Knight Frank's 2017 Wealth Report suggests that the ultra-rich will continue to flock to the UK even as Brexit begins to bite.

The number of ultra-high net worth individuals rose 3.4 per cent last year to 193,490, a U-turn from the 3 per cent decline logged in 2015, and this figure is forecasted to swell 43 per cent within a decade, according to new figures from Knight Frank.

The property broker's 2017 Wealth Report found that the number of the world's UHNW individuals, or those with $30 million or more in net assets, rose by 6,340 last year. Knight Frank projects a 43 per cent rise by 2026, but its report reveals considerable variation in growth rates across different regions and countries.

The report suggests that the super-rich will continue to flock to London, despite the political and economic concerns surrounding the UK's divorce from the European Union. Its findings forecast that the UK will remain the frontrunner in Europe in terms of its ultra-wealthy population, with Knight Frank predicting a 30 per cent surge in the nation's UHNW population throughout the next ten years.

“The forthcoming Brexit process will not result in an outflow of wealthy individuals from the UK,” Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, said in the report. “Rather, it will mean that existing high net worth individuals will be more likely to remain and indeed to be joined by a growing list of new arrivals.” 

Meanwhile, the report's City Wealth Index – a new addition which identifies cities important to UHNW individuals based on metrics such as current wealth, investment, connectivity and future wealth – shows that London emerges just ahead of New York in terms of investment and connectivity, but lags behind on both current and future wealth. London, however, is the only European city that ranks in the index's list of top 10 cities.

New York tops the charts worldwide as expectations for US economic growth outweigh a period of tumult as the presidency of Donald Trump takes shape, according to the report. The US is expected to see a higher growth rate in its UHNW population in the next decade compared with “many other developed countries,” Knight Frank says.

Still, Asia is set to play catch-up as Knight Frank forecasts the region's number of UHNW individuals to close in on the US's by 2026.

At present, Asia is home to 27,020 fewer ultra-rich individuals than the US. In the next nine years, however, this difference will shrink to just 7,068, Knight Frank says. The region is also expected to outperform Europe, according to Knight Frank, which projects a 91 per cent increase in the number of UHNW individuals, compared with only 12 per cent in Europe.