Hong Kong’s multimillionaire population hit record high last year even as its economy had its worst recession on record

The number of multimillionaires in Hong Kong hit a record high last year – despite the city recording its worst recession on record because of the pandemic – according to the results of a survey released by Citibank on Thursday.

As many as 515,000 people in Hong Kong were estimated to have HK$10 million (US$1.28 million) each in total assets last year, up from 413,000 in 2019, according to Citibank’s Hong Kong Affluent Study 2020, which was conducted between November last year and January this year. A multimillionaire is defined by the bank as someone who has more than HK$10 million in total net assets and at least HK$1 million in liquid assets.

“The population of Hong Kong multimillionaires continues to grow unabated during the pandemic, and has even set a record high,” said Josephine Lee Kwai-chong, Citibank Hong Kong’s head of retail banking. “Even with the outbreak of the pandemic, governments around the world have taken measures to save [their economies] and stabilise the financial markets. As a result, many investment instruments, including stocks, bonds and foreign currencies, have appreciated in value in 2020 and generated gains for investors.”

The disparity between the haves and have-nots is widening, because the poor have become poorer amid the pandemic, said Louis Tse Ming-kwong, managing director of Wealthy Securities. “You need to make ends meet, you don’t have spare cash to invest,” he said.

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A lot of businesses have closed, which has led to an increase in unemployment, Tse said, adding that he expected unemployment to continue to rise. The economy will suffer as a result of this, because people are not spending any more.