Guess which generation is going to be richest generation in history? It is not the Gen X or the Gen Z. It is the Millennials, or those born between 1981 and 2000.

Global real estate research agency Knight Frank said in its 18th Annual Wealth Report, analysed by Ziraat Times, that the Millenial generation is on track to reap the windfall over the next 20 years, thanks to the property assets accumulated by the generations before them, or, say, their parents and grand parents.

The research found that 75% of millennials expect their wealth to increase in 2024, against 53% in the baby boomer generation (those born between 1946 and 1964), 56% in Gen X (born between 1965 to 1980) and 69% in generation Z (born 1997 to 2012).

Are you scratching your head? Well read on..

While the distribution of wealth may be shifting between world regions, the report says that an even bigger shift is happening between generations. The switch will see $90tn (£71tn) of assets move between generations in the US alone, “making affluent millennials the richest generation in history”, Knight Frank said in its annual wealth report.

While they wait for their inheritances, many millennials are still reeling from a series of economic shocks, with the 2008 crash followed by a series of financial headwinds brought about by the pandemic, Brexit and war in Ukraine, the report added.

As a result of rising rents, they have spent much of their income on housing costs and faced significant challenges to afford their own homes or build up a pension pot.

In reality, their future financial firepower is likely to be a divisive lottery, predominantly determined by inheritance from previous generations, including property.

Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank, said the shift in wealth was likely to aid efforts in sustainable investments and behaviour. “Millennials appear to have got the message when it comes to cutting consumption – 80% of male and 79% of female respondents say they are trying to shrink their carbon footprints,” he said.

He forecast that wealth creation trends among those in Gen Z suggested that the 38% increase in female ultra-high net worth individuals – those with more than $30m in assets – over the past decade “is set to keep on building”.

For more details, please read the full report online.