China, Hong Kong pools of ultra-rich shrink and Asia’s wealth engine cools, Altrata says

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

China now has 46,060 ultra wealthy individuals with a total wealth of US$5.20 trillion. It is down from 2022’s tally of 47,190 citizens with a wealth pile of US$5.3 trillion

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Silhouette of a businessman sitting on a chair and holding a cigar, overlooking the city of Hong Kong. The city recorded a dip in its population of wealthy citizens, according to a report by Altrata. Photo: Shutterstock

Cheryl Arcibal

Published: 12:48pm, 24 Jul 2024Updated: 8:52pm, 24 Jul 2024

The number of ultra-wealthy, defined as individuals with a net worth of more than US$30 million, in China fell for the second straight year in 2023 as a sluggish economy and a deepening real-estate downturn took their toll, with Hong Kong following a similar trend, according to a report by a New York-headquartered consultancy.

Altrata’s World Ultra Wealth Report 2024 also forecast that Asia’s run of creating more affluent individuals is running out of steam, but in the long-term it could overtake Europe as the region with the second-largest population of the wealthy set.

China now has 46,060 ultra wealthy individuals whose total wealth amounted to US$5.20 trillion, down from 2022’s tally of 47,190, with a cumulative wealth of US$5.3 trillion.

Hong Kong’s population of wealthy people declined by 0.4 per cent to 12,545, with a total wealth of US$1.48 trillion, Altrata said.

The consultancy said Hong Kong showed a marked contrast to the gains in all the other leading ultra wealth cities, but said that it will remain a regional powerhouse owing to its unrivalled status as a nexus for financial flows between China and the global economy.

“The growth potential of the semi-autonomous territory has been weakened,” Altrata said. “The political clampdown in recent years and the heightened control by the mainland Chinese government has tempered investor sentiment and talent inflows among the super-rich, with wealth portfolios constrained by relatively weak returns from China-related assets.”