Hong Kong made a rare appearance in the list of wealth loss leaders in the latest Credit Suisse report, shedding 12,000 millionaires in 2019.
The city was in fact the only Asia (ex-Australia) market that featured in the list of highest number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) lost, defined as those with a net worth of $1 million or above, according to the latest Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2019. Australia led the ranks with 124,000 (HNWIs) lost between mid-2018 and mid-2019, driven by plummeting property prices and a weakening currency.
Japan (+187,000), China (+158,000) and India (+34,000) led the APAC region in terms of highest number of new HNWIs.
China’s Second Slow Wealth Growth Year
Trade tariffs and export slowdown caused a second consecutive year of slow wealth growth in China, which Credit Suisse called «very atypical for this burgeoning country». The report reiterated concerns about trade tensions and rising debt but remains optimistic about China’s wealth growth outlook.
Though China phenomenal wealth story remains intact – it reached a new milestone with 100 million citizens amongst the world’s richest 10 percent compared to the U.S.’s 99 million – the wealth gap is becoming an increasingly pressing issue.
«Although significant gaps are created by the strong urban and rural divide in China, overall wealth inequality was low at the turn of the century,» the report said. «This was in part due to the absence of inherited fortunes, and the relatively equal division of rural land and privatized housing. However, inequality has risen considerably since the year 2000.»
