Hong Kong has officially surpassed New York City as the place with the highest concentration of super wealthy people.
Hong Kong’s population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) worth at least $30 million jumped 31% last year to 10,010. New York was second at 8,865, an increase of only 7%, according to a new report from ultra high net worth intelligence and data company Wealth-X.
Hong Kong’s super-rich, particularly those with above $30m in net worth, now have a combined wealth of close to $1.3trn.
Tokyo, Los Angeles, London, and Paris were also among the top 10 cities on the list.
Globally, the number of ultra-wealthy people rose by 13% in 2017, totaling over 250,000. According to the data, that cohort has a combined net worth of $31.5trn.
“Hong Kong’s rise in terms of the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals is mainly because of its trade and investment links to China’s mainland, where new, self-made wealth is growing at the fastest pace,” said the head of Wealth-X Institute Vincent White.
The report found that the world’s ultra-rich held more of their wealth (some 35%) in liquid assets such as cash. Private holdings accounted for about 32%, while public holdings stood at 26%. Alternative investments such as real estate, art and yachts made up 6.6% of total assets.
Wealth-X also said that 35,000 women made the ultra-rich list last year, accounting for a record-high share of nearly 14%. The report forecasts that in the next four years “Asia is expected to experience the strongest growth” in the world among those worth $30m or more.
By 2022 the region is expected to have 108,000 ultra-high-net-worth individuals, growing by 50%. North America will grow by less than a third over that time period, to 132,000.
A majority of the super-rich made between $30m-$100m, while more than 2,700 people — or roughly one percent — made $1bn or more last year.
Here’s the world’s top 10:
- Hong Kong
- New York
- Tokyo
- Los Angeles
- Paris
- London
- Chicago
- San Francisco
- Washington DC
- Osaka
