Minimum HK$1.5m needed to be happy in Hong Kong, poll finds
Survey reports that Hongkongers need HK$1.5m a year to find contentment
Hongkongers on average need to earn HK$1.5 million a year to be happy, ranking them third among 13 places in the world, according to a global survey by an investment company.
Dubai topped the poll, with respondents there requiring HK$2.1 million year, compared with a global average of HK$1.2 million. The Gulf city was followed by Singapore with HK$1.8 million. Germany came last, with an average of only HK$664,830.
Britons think they need to earn HK$1 million a year to be happy, ranking them ninth.
The survey found that while only 17 per cent of men in Hong Kong said they needed more than HK$2 million a year to be content, the percentage for women was 23 per cent. Nearly half of the men said they would be happy with yearly incomes below HK$600,000, but only one third of the women felt comfortable with that number.
A HK$1.5 million yearly income would mean a monthly salary of HK$125,000. According to the Population Census last year, only 4.2 per cent of the working population earn more than HK$60,000 a month, the highest category in the report. Hongkongers on average earn HK$12,800 per month.
The survey also showed more than 80 per cent of Hongkongers believed a certain level of income could bring them happiness.
"It may be that the relative absence of a social security net combined with the very high cost of property and rising inflation are responsible for places like Hong Kong putting a higher value on income," said Michael Leeson, Royal Skandia's head of sales in Hong Kong and Northeast Asia.
