Hong Kong has overtaken New York to become the top destination for the world’s wealthiest people. The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) residing in Hong Kong rose by almost a third in 2017 to 10,000, according to an annual survey published by research firm Wealth-X.
It said the number of people worth $30 million or more grew by 13% in 2017 to 255,810 worldwide and their total wealth, helped by soaring stock markets and economic growth, surged to $31.5 trillion.
New York, which has held the top spot since Wealth-X first started ranking cities in 2011, boasted 8,900 UHNWIs, while Tokyo ranked third with 6,800. Other cities in the top 10 for global wealth included Los Angeles, Paris and London.
The US still dominates the world of the rich, accounting for about a third of the world’s UHNWIs, or nearly 80,000 people, compared to only 17,000 in China. But Asia, and China in particular, is catching up.
Last year the number of UHNWIs in Asia rose by 20%, helped by increasing consumer spending, more investment in infrastructure and economic reforms, among other factors. By 2022, Asia is expected to have 108,000 UHNWIs, growing by 50%, while North America is expected to grow by less than a third over the time period, to 132,000.
No single city in mainland China made it into Wealth-X’s top 10 in terms of the number of UHNWIs but among the 30 fastest-growing cities in the world for multimillionaires, 26 were in China.
