Hong Kong’s richest suffered 9 per cent decline in total asset value last year, most among global peers, amid continued US-China trade war uncertainties
- A drop in the number of Hong Kong’s super-rich has let New York reclaim top spot as the world’s top city for wealthy individuals
- US and China are no 1 and 2, and both saw their wealthy populations continue to rise, despite the trade war
Hong Kong’s richest residents suffered the biggest collective loss of wealth among the world’s wealthiest countries last year, reflecting the continued affects of the US-China trade war and resulting economic uncertainties, according to the latest research by Wealth-X.
Globally, the number of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) – people with US$30 million or more in net worth – increased by 0.8 per cent to 265,490 people, a big slowdown from 2017, while combined wealth declined by 1.7 per cent to US$32.3 trillion. It is the first such decline in three years, Wealth-X said.
Among the world’s billionaires, Wealth-X recorded a significant drop of 7 per cent in combined US dollar wealth, and a 5.4 per cent decline in their numbers.
Hong Kong’s UHNWIs collectively lost 9 per cent of their total value. In 2018, their total wealth was US$1.179 trillion. Wealth-X identified 8,950 people in Hong Kong as UHNWIs, with the city ranking eighth globally as a domicile for such people. The number of people who had such assets, however, fell by 1,060 individuals, or 10.6 per cent, in 2018.
Asia, which had been among the fastest growing regions for wealth over the past few years, saw its UHNWIs’ population decline 1.5 per cent to 75,570 individuals, with a fall in collective net worth of 2.8 per cent to US$9.5 trillion.
The report noted that the “deteriorating economic environment more than offset support for wealth creation from ongoing policy reforms and higher regional infrastructure spending, particularly in China and India, underlining the importance of asset and currency markets to the development of ultra wealth.”
The United States and China were first and second, respectively, on the list, and both saw their wealthy populations continue to rise, despite the trade war. Canada and Switzerland also posted large falls in combined wealth of UHNWIs and total population.
