While philanthropy in Asia generally lags behind the levels seen in more developed countries, Hong Kong is an unusual case - the city as a whole gives more than other Asian nations, yet the wealthiest give less.
According to the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, 86 per cent of adults in Hong Kong make donations to charity, giving an average of HK$2,986 per head a year, more than in other Asian countries, according to Nathalie Sauvanet, head of individual philanthropy at BNP Paribas Wealth Management. She says the tradition of philanthropy and charity is more developed in Hong Kong than elsewhere in Asia.
However, when Hong Kong's richest people are compared with those around the world, they give proportionately less, says Thelma Kwan, director of wealth advisory at Barclays.
'In a report on philanthropy which we published in November 2010, we found that the HNWIs [high-net-worth individuals] in Hong Kong ranked lower than the global average in terms of considering giving to charity one of their top spending priorities,' she says.
'Only 16 per cent of respondents surveyed had it as one of their top priorities, compared with the global average of 23 per cent.'
However, with Asia the source of the fastest-growing number of wealthy individuals, philanthropy is set to grow in the region, says Lee Woon Shiu, head of wealth planning at the Bank of Singapore.