Singapore overtakes Hong Kong with millionaires, China has 5 cities among world’s 50 richest, ahead of Australia: report
- Number of HK millionaires dropped 27 per cent between 2012 and 2022, while number in Singapore grew by 40 per cent
- In terms of billionaires, California’s Bay Area comes out on top, followed by New York, Beijing, Los Angeles and Shanghai
Hong Kong has fallen behind rival Singapore in a ranking of the world’s wealthiest cities.
The number of millionaires in Hong Kong dropped 27 per cent to 129,500 between 2012 and 2022, while it grew 40 per cent to 240,100 in the city state, according to a list published by investment migration company Henley & Partners and global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth.
Hong Kong now ranks at number seven, two spots below Singapore. It ranked fourth in 2012, the report said.
Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong Kong has driven an exodus of wealth and a boom in family offices to other hubs. While investment firms for the super-rich have almost doubled between 2021 and 2020 in Singapore, its rival closer to China has been playing catch up and unveiled tax concessions last month.
Most people with investible wealth of at least US$1 million live in New York City, where there are 340,000 millionaires, with California’s Bay Area and Los Angeles also among the top spots, the report shows.
The Big Apple held its top spot after the number of high net worth individuals surged by 40 per cent in the 2012-2022 period.
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Inside Sheng Siong supermarket billionaire Lim Hock Leng’s home in Singapore
Overall, the US surpassed all countries with 10 of the 50 richest cities in the world, with New York followed by Tokyo, California’s Bay Area, London and Singapore. The annual survey looked at 97 cities in nine regions around the world.
China followed the US with five cities in the top 50, putting it just ahead of Australia, which had four.
In an even more elite category, California’s Bay Area won out when it came to the total number of billionaires – 63 call the region surrounding Silicon Valley and San Francisco home, according to the report. That was followed by New York, Beijing, Los Angeles and Shanghai.
The 10-year growth in high net worth individuals was led by the Chinese city of Hangzhou, which saw a 105 per cent rise, while Austin, Texas came in second with a 102 per cent increase.
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At the other end of the spectrum, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the combination of sanctions and an exodus of citizens it sparked appears to have hit Moscow hard.
The number of millionaires calling the Russian capital home plunged 44 per cent from a decade earlier, while St. Petersburg saw a 38 per cent slump.
Juerg Steffen, Henley & Partners’ chief executive officer, said most of the cities that topped the list are in countries that have programmes in place to help with the migration of funds and encourage foreign direct investments in exchange for residence or citizenship rights.
“Being able to relocate yourself, your family, or your business to a more favourable city or have the option to choose between multiple different residences across the world is an increasingly important aspect of international wealth and legacy planning for private clients,” Steffen said.
