Wealthy Asians likely to bequeath US$2.54 trillion to their heirs by 2030, report says

About 70,000 affluent Asians are likely to transfer an estimated total wealth of US$2.54 trillion by 2030, the third-largest amount after North America with US$10.6 trillion and Europe with US$3.58 trillion, according to the latest report by US-based wealth information and insights provider Wealth-X.

However, if the amount is divided by the total number of wealthy individuals or those whose net worth is more than US$5 million, Asians are likely to pass on an average of US$36.6 million to their heirs and beneficiaries, the second-biggest largesse behind the average of US$43 million from 11,875 citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean, whose total wealth is tipped at US$516 billion.

In North America, there are an estimated 455,490 rich individuals likely to pass on their wealth by 2030, while Europe has 102,828 of such individuals.

Globally, about 680,000 individuals will transfer a collective wealth of US$18.3 trillion, a sum that is “greater than China’s annual gross domestic product of US$14.9 trillion in 2020”, the report said. On average, the affluent set is likely to transfer US$27 million per individual.

There are an estimated 3 million super-rich individuals in the world and a quarter of them “will seek to pass on their estates to the next generation between now and 2030, which will involve the transfer of a staggering level of wealth”, says the report.

“At US$10.6 trillion, North America will account for almost 60 per cent of the cumulative wealth transferred,” according to the report. “The wealthy class in Europe will pass on US$3.6 trillion by 2030, with the region accounting for 15 per cent of all wealth transfers. This is some way ahead of third-ranked Asia, where we expect US$2.5 trillion of wealth to be passed on to the next generation.”