Study: S'pore to have more millionaires per population than US, China in 8 years

In the next eight years, the number of millionaires in Singapore as a share of the population will be more than that of the United States, China or any other economy in the Asia-Pacific region, HSBC said in a report.

The Republic, where 7.5 per cent of the adult population had wealth of at least US$1 million (S$1.38 million) last year, is set to see the share of millionaires rise to 9.8 per cent in 2025, and then jump to 13.4 per cent in 2030.

The study looks at the resident population comprising citizens and permanent residents.

HSBC said that to measure the wealth of the millionaires, it looked at their cash in banks and investment in securities such as stocks and bonds. It also took into account their real estate holdings, including owner-occupied properties, after deducting any outstanding mortgage amounts.

The bank said that in Asia, Singapore is already second only to Australia, whose share of millionaires per population stood at 8 per cent last year.

By 2030, Australia will drop to second place with 12.5 per cent of the nation holding cash and assets of at least US$1 million.

By that year, 11.1 per cent of Hong Kong's population will be millionaires, while the figure will be 9 per cent for the US, 7.2 per cent for Japan and 4.4 per cent for China.

Singapore's share of residents with wealth of at least US$250,000 will rise to 67 per cent by 2030, second to Australia's 70.8 per cent, said the report titled The Rise Of Asian Wealth.

HSBC said the growth of millionaires in Asia will continue until 2035, with the projected share reaching 17 per cent for Singapore, ahead of 15.1 per cent for Australia and 14.6 per cent for Hong Kong.

However, in absolute terms, the countries with large populations will continue to lead the league of millionaires in the region.

The number of adults with wealth of at least US$1 million in China stood at 17.1 million last year.

This will rise to 50.4 million in 2030, said HSBC.

The number of Singapore millionaires will rise over the same period from 400,000 to 700,000.

Mr Frederic Neumann, HSBC's chief Asia economist, said the deepening pool of local savings across the region is providing a measure of resilience against the vagaries of global financial markets and hardship from rising inflation and slowing growth.

"An account of Asia's growing wealth also shines a light on the societal resources that are ultimately available to lift millions more out of poverty," he said in the report.

"After all, the region is hardly short of capital, even if this is unevenly distributed, both between and within economies."

He noted that financial wealth in Asia had started to exceed that in the US after 2008 with the start of the global financial crisis, the worst economic disaster to hit the US since the Great Depression. Asian financial wealth reached just shy of US$140 trillion last year, well above US$120 trillion in the US.

Japan accounted for over half of the wealth held in the region in the years following the global financial crisis. But by last year, China's share had climbed to 46 per cent, while Japan's had fallen to a quarter.

However, excluding Japan, Asia's financial wealth is still lower than that of the US at around US$100 trillion.

But "given current trends in per capita income growth, wealth in Asia ex-Japan could surpass that in the US by 2025", said Mr Neumann.

The number of millionaires in Asia, excluding Japan, is projected to jump from roughly 30 million currently to over 76 million by the end of the decade, he added.