KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 12 — Another 182 people in Malaysia will join the ranks of the ultra-rich within the next decade, a survey by international property consultants Knight Frank predicted today.

It predicted this will take place despite Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, remaining the list of Top 10 Global Cities that would put the country firmly in the radar of the wealthiest of the wealthy.

According to Knight Frank’s “The Wealth Report 2014” launched today, Malaysia will host an extra 33 per cent in Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UNHWIs) — the ultra-wealthy — by 2023.

This compares to the period between 2003 and 2013, when Malaysia saw a 134-per cent rise in the number of the ultra-rich population.

There are currently 557 such individuals in the country.

UHNWIs are defined as those with USUS$30 million (RM99 million) or more in net assets, including their main residence.

Between 2012 and 2013, the number of UNHWIs increased by 2 per cent, with nine new millionaires joining the ranks.

Meanwhile, the total number of centa-millionaires in Malaysia — those worth USUS$100 million (RM329 million) or more — rose by three to 206 people.

According to the report, Kuala Lumpur is home to 53 per cent of Malaysia’s ultra-rich population but does not feature as an important city for the rest of the world’s ultra-rich.

“Among the UNHWIs around the world, Kuala Lumpur won’t be the first they talk about,” said Nicholas Holt, a Knight Frank research analyst for the Asia Pacific region, after the report’s launch here.

“It certainly lags behind. I think what is required is being done, we can see infrastructure projects coming into Kuala Lumpur … I see Kuala Lumpur rising to catch up but at the moment it is still secondary city of choice,” added Sarkunan Subramaniam, the managing director of Knight Frank Malaysia.

London and New York topped the Global Cities 2014 list, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong.

Shanghai and Beijing are the other two Asian cities in the top 10 list, with Mumbai predicted to join it in ten years’ time.

The Global Cities study focused on four key themes: economic activity; political power; quality of life; and knowledge & influence.

It also included findings from Knight Frank’s Attitude Survey, which polled 600 private bankers and wealth advisors to provide an insight into their ultra-rich clients’ attitude.

The results of the survey represented the views of over 23,000 UHNWIs who are worth USUS$69 million on average, and USUS$1.5 trillion in total.

According to a new list of Malaysia’s 50 richest tycoons released by the business magazine Forbes this month, the two richest Malaysians remain “sugar king” Tan Sri Robert Kuok (RM37.8 billion) and T. Ananda Krishnan (RM37.1 billion) by a wide margin.