For the third straight year, Asia Pacific dominated the list of the world's 10 fastest-growing markets for High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) or millionaires.
BANGKOK: For the third straight year, Asia Pacific dominated the list of the world's 10 fastest-growing markets for High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) or millionaires, with India, China, South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore taking five of the top spots.
India led the way with 22.7 per cent increase in its HNWI population, followed by China at 20.3 per cent while Korea, Indonesia and Singapore posted gains of 18.9, 16.8 and 15.3 per cent, respectively.
According to the annual Asia-Pacific Wealth Report published by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, Singapore had an estimated 77,000 millionaires at the end of last year, the highest concentration of HNWIs in its adult population within the region.
Last year, 1.99 per cent of Singapore's adult population had net assets of more than USD 1 million, the report said, adding that the republic's HNWIs had an average net worth of US$4.9 million, the third highest in the Asia-Pacific region after Hong Kong and China.
The number of millionaires in Asia Pacific expanded to 2.8 million at the end of last year, an increase of 8.7 per cent and exceeding the global growth rate of six per cent, according to the report. Asia Pacific is home to 27.8 per cent of the world's HNWI population.
The report covered nine key markets in Asia Pacific, namely Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
The region's wealthy held a combined USD 9.5 trillion in financial assets, up 12.5 per cent from a year earlier and making up 23.3 per cent of global HNWI wealth.
"Emerging markets are benefiting from recent reforms to the financial services industry and increases in foreign direct investment from international markets, such as the US, Britain and Middle East," said Wayne Li, senior manager of Capgemini's Financial Services unit.
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