Wellington - The rich are getting richer in New Zealand, despite the global financial crisis and an economy in recession, according to a report published Friday.

The richest New Zealander, businessman Graeme Hart, more than doubled his wealth to 6 billion New Zealand dollars (about 4.4 billion US dollars) in the last year, the weekly National Business Review reported in its annual Rich List supplement.

Hart, who has topped the list for six of the last seven years, heads investment company Rank Group, which paid 2.7 billion US dollars for the packaging and consumer business of the multinational Alcoa Inc earlier this year.

The long-established local Todd family is second on the list with an estimated 2.6 billion New Zealand dollars, through Todd Corp, which has interests in the country's biggest oil and gas fields and mining.

John Key, who opinion polls indicate will become prime minister at the general election scheduled for later this year, appears on the list for the first time, worth an estimated 
50 million New Zealand dollars.

Key, who made his money as a foreign exchange dealer before turning to politics, is New Zealand's richest member of Parliament. (dpa)