Riyadh: There has been a fall of 12 per cent in the wealth of 14 Saudi rich families during the first three quarters of the current year.
The overall value of their assets fell to 98.4 billion Saudi riyals from 111.5 billion riyals during the period between January 1 and September 29, 2011, according to the latest figures released by Al Joman Centre for Economic Consultancy.
The Al Rajhi family is the Kingdom's wealthiest non-royals.
Among the 14 families that have so far declared their assets, Al Rajhi topped with a wealth of 46.3 billion riyals. This makes up 47 per cent of the total assets of these families.
The Al Rashid family comes second with a total wealth of 5.8 billion riyals in the rich list of families. It is interesting to note that Al Rashid's wealth is less than one-seventh of Al Rajhi's.
The decline in the wealth of the rich families was attributed mainly to the recent crash in the Saudi stock market, the largest bourse in the Arab world. The shares plunged eight per cent during the three quarters of the year, Sabaq website reported quoting the statement of Al Joman Cente.
According to the report, there has been an increase in the wealth of four of the 14 families during the period while the remaining nine families had incured losses
