There were an estimated 180,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Canada at the end of 2002, up a net 15,000 people compared to the previous year, according to the 2003 World Wealth Report published Wednesday by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch.

“However, there was a 1.9% decline in the number of high net worth individuals in North America overall, down to an estimated 2.22 million individuals,” said James Gorman, president of Merrill Lynch’s Global Private Client group.

“North American high net worth individual wealth declined 2.1%, or $200 billion, to $7.4 trillion over 2002,” he added. High net worth individuals, or HNWIs, are people with financial assets of at least US$1million, excluding real estate.

“Their numbers and wealth was undermined by continued declines in U.S. equities markets,” Gorman said. “However, the decline in their wealth was substantially less than the 22% drop in the value of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index over 2002, indicating that high net worth investors had strategies in place for wealth preservation.”