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Millionaire households could rise 60% over the next 10 years

The number of millionaire households in the UK is predicted to rise by 60% to more than 2.4 million within the next 10 years, according to a study.

Britain's richest are expected to have a combined wealth of more than £6.9 trillion by 2017, with the number of households with a fortune of £5 million due to increase by 120% to 126,000, the Household Wealth Index revealed.

The study, developed by Barclays Wealth and the Economist Intelligence Unit, forecasts that the current rise in the number of millionaire households - up from 1.5 million in 2007 - will see the UK have the seventh highest concentration of wealth in the world.

But the experts behind the study said that this could leave the UK vulnerable to a shock from an economic downturn.

Michael Dicks, head of research and investment strategy at Barclays Wealth, said: "The UK will continue to outperform Europe and remain a significant centre for wealth generation over the next decade.

"We believe that any financial downturn would have a greater short-term impact on wealth creation in the UK than in other European countries, which do not have the concentration of financial services activity seen in London."

America is set to retain its global status as the world's richest nation, the study predicts, although it suggests that emerging markets, such as China and India, will significantly close the gap with the US by 2017.

The index shows that the top five wealthiest nations by distribution of household wealth will be led by the US, followed by Japan, with China in third place up from seventh last year, the UK in fourth position and Germany in fifth.

India is expected to move up from 14th position in 2007 to eighth place in 2017, while Russia could be catapulted from 19th place to 11th place, the study suggested.