13% of S'pore population to become millionaires by 2030, highest proportion among Asia-Pacific economies: HSBC report

SINGAPORE — In eight years' time, more than 13 per cent of adults in Singapore will be worth more than US$1 million (S$1.38 million), a proportion higher than the United States, China and 12 other Asia-Pacific economies, said an HSBC report.

In Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, there are likely to be more millionaires on a relative basis than in the US, with South Korea and New Zealand coming close, the report also said.

Comparatively, the US is expected to have 8.8 per cent of its adult population as millionaires by 2030 while the figure for China is expected to be 4.4 per cent.

Singapore is expected to see its share of millionaires among its residents, which comprise permanent residents and citizens, grow from 7.5 per cent in 2021 to 9.8 per cent in 2025 and up to 13.4 per cent by the end of the decade.

In absolute terms, this means that the number of millionaires in Singapore will rise to 700,000 in 2030, up from 400,000 currently.

The report by HSBC, titled "The Rise of Asian Wealth", looks at the rise of wealth in Asia. It was released on Tuesday (Aug 16).

Among other things, the report examines the projected number of residents that will reach certain wealth brackets in the coming years.

It does so based on the residents' bank deposits, investments in bonds and equities, assets held by pension funds or insurance companies, as well as their real estate holdings after deducting any outstanding mortgage amounts. 

It compares 15 economies in the region, including Singapore, China, Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan. 

Mr Frederic Neumann, HSBC’s chief economist for Asia, said that although the region is going through economic instability, it is nevertheless worth taking stock of Asia’s rising wealth at this juncture.

This is because the deepening pool of local savings provides “a measure of resilience against the vagaries of global financial markets”.  

“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 added in the report.

S’PORE HAS SECOND HIGHEST PROPORTION OF MILLIONAIRES IN REGION

The report said that currently, Singapore has the second-highest (7.5 per cent) number of millionaire adults based on the percentage share of its population, just after Australia (8 per cent) and ahead of Taiwan (5.9 per cent).

By 2030, Singapore will take the top spot at 13.4 per cent, followed by Australia (12.5 per cent) and Hong Kong (11.1 per cent).

By the end of 2030, only around 4 per cent of adults in mainland China and less than 1 per cent of adults in India are likely to be millionaires, noted the report.

However, in absolute numbers, China will continue to have the highest number of millionaires, rising from about 17 million currently to 50 million by the end of the decade. This figure is projected to rise to nearly 80 million by 2035.

The number of millionaires in India is also set to hit 6.6 million by 2030, exceeding the whole of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region, said the report.

However, it noted that the large number of millionaires in some of these economies can be explained due to the large sizes of their population, on top of their wealth distribution and level of economic development.

INDIVIDUALS WITH AT LEAST US$250,000

At the slightly lower end of the income bracket, Singapore is also expected to see the proportion of its residents having at least US$250,000 of wealth standing at 67 per cent by 2030, up by about 10 percentage points from 2021.

In terms of the percentage share of the population, this will make Singapore the second-highest city in the region with individuals of this net worth, just after Australia at 70.8 per cent.

Both economies also occupy the same top two spots in this category in 2021.

In China, the number of adults with a net wealth of at least US$250,000 is expected to double by 2030 to around 350 million, while the figure in India could triple to 57 million.

Region-wide, the number of millionaires is projected to jump from about 30 million currently to more than 76 million by the end of the decade.

The report said that economies that are growing more rapidly tend to accumulate wealth faster.

For example, Vietnam, the Philippines and India are expected to see the number of adults holding wealth of at least US$250,000 more than double by 2030, with Indonesia and Malaysia “not far behind”.