The number of high net worth individuals in the European Union fell by 5.2% in the first half of 2008, with the largest drops in Ireland, Spain, Italy, France and the UK, according to a report from MDRC, a UK consultancy.
Altogether there were 2,617,400 HWNIs in the European Union at the end of the first half. MDRC defines HNWIs as having liquid assets of $1m.