Household wealth in China to reach US$39 trillion in 2022, says Credit Suisse

China’s household wealth is forecast to increase by about US$10 trillion to reach US$39 trillion in 2022, and it will be a major contributor of wealth growth globally in the next five years, according to Credit Suisse.

The number of millionaires in China might surge by 41 per cent to 2.7 million in the same period, becoming the country with the third-largest number of millionaires after the United States and Japan, Credit Suisse said in its Global Wealth Report, which was compiled from data on the wealth holdings of 4.8 billion adults across about 200 countries.

At the same time, the global economy is projected to add another 719 billionaires in the next five years, taking their tally to nearly 3,000, with close to 30 per cent coming from China, the Swiss financial service company said.

The surge in household wealth reflects gains in China’s asset prices, including its market capitalisation and house prices. Gains in global equity markets have also been matched by similar increases in non-financial assets, which moved above the pre-crisis year 2007’s level for the first time this year.

“A decade since the start of the global financial crisis, we see a significant increase in wealth across all regions of the world,” said Urs Rohner, chairman of the Credit Suisse Research Institute and chairman of the board of directors at Credit Suisse Group.

While aggregate wealth in Asia-Pacific increased to a record high of US$89 trillion in 2017, median wealth across the region grew by just 0.2 per cent, suggesting income inequality that is edging higher.

“In terms of GDP per capita, China is still poor and has a fair amount of catching up,” said Alan Oster, group chief economist at National Australia Bank.