THE RANKS of the world's rich swelled to eight million during 2007 as the wealthy proved immune to the strains across global economies in the latter half of the year.

There was a 4.5 per cent increase last year in so-called "high net worth individuals", those with assets of more than $1 million (€632,000), according to a report compiled by Citi Private Bank and Knight Frank, published today.

There was particularly strong growth of wealthy populations in the emerging economies of China and India, as well as those countries that have access to natural resources, such as Kazakhstan.

The report says the rate of growth of high net worth individuals has outpaced growth in gross domestic product and GDP per head, which it believes indicates that the rich are getting richer relative to their respective countries.

The report says there was little change in the investment activity of the very rich during the credit crunch in 2007, other than a shift away from structured finance. It says the wealthy are "weathering the crunch" much better than institutional investors, owing to their diverse portfolios.

- (Financial Times Service)