2012 has seen a major shift in the population of HNWI individuals across the globe and for the first time, the Asia-Pacific region has overtaken North America in the number of its wealthy residents.
This shift of wealth is mainly due to recent economic downturn, resulting in a decline of 1.1% in the population of HNWIs in North America.
The 2012 World Wealth Report released by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management outlines that although Europe’s HNWI population rose by 1.1% to 3.2 million, HNWI wealth decreased by 1.1% to US$10.1 trillion in this region.
The report also revealed that Asia-Pacific HNWI population expanded by 1.6% to 3.37 million in 2011, representing more than 11% total growth in two years with Australia remaining home to the Asia-Pacific’s third largest HNWI population.
The 2012 Credit Suisse Global Wealth report highlights similar findings. It predicts that there will be a significant jump in the number of millionaires based in India in the next five years, as the total of the super rich in the country is predicted to reach 242,000 by 2017 (the number of millionaires in the country now stands at 158,000).
HSBC’s fifth annual survey of expatriate wealth confirms the trend, stating that Singapore this year topped its “Expat Explorer Economics” league table. The city-state became home to the largest proportion of wealthy expats of any country, with more than half of Singapore-based expats who took part in the survey reporting that they earn more than $200,000 per year, compared to a global survey average of only 7%.
As far as cities are concerned, London continues to lead the pack as the most important city to HNWIs but that could change as emerging economy cities rise up the ranks according to a report gathered by Knight Frank.
