Singapore has retained top spot for having the highest percentage of millionaires in the world, according to a study published by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
It showed that the number of households with investable assets of more than S$1.26 million rose 14 percent to 188,000 in 2011, meaning that one in six households is a millionaire.
The report also highlighted that Singapore’s population of super-wealthy has grown, with 10 in every 100,000 households now considered ‘ultra-high-net-worth’ households, defined as households with over US$100 million (S$129 million) in private financial wealth. This puts Singapore just behind Switzerland, which has the highest number of ultra-high-net-worth households, and ahead of Hong Kong, which has seven of such households for every 100,000.
However, the report stated that asset inflows into Switzerland from investors in neighbouring countries “will certainly decline”, citing “new, stricter tax regulations”.
“If recent growth rates remain constant, it is possible that Singapore and Hong Kong combined will surpass Switzerland as an offshore booking centre in terms of size in 15 to 20 years.”
The report also ranked Singapore 11th in terms of absolute number of millionaire households, boosted by the appreciation of the Singapore dollar in recent years.
Warren Lim, Chief Executive of Finexis Advisory, noted that millionaires were also created from strong growth in Singapore’s property market.
Meanwhile, private wealth across Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, climbed 10.7 percent to US$23.7 trillion (S$30.6 trillion). In contrast, private wealth in Japan, North America and Europe declined two percent, 0.9 percent and 0.4 percent respectively. However, North America still has the largest share of private wealth globally at US$38 trillion (S$49 trillion).
Indonesia, which is undergoing an economic boom, is also contributing to Asia-Pacific’s share of private wealth. A report released by Wealth-X, which tracks super-wealthy households around the world, indicated that the combined net worth of ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the country reached US$125 billion (S$161 billion), with at least 25 Indonesians now worth more than US$1 billion (S$1.29 billion).
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