Being in the “top 1 per cent” is the 21st century definition of being truly wealthy. However, in Singapore, you don’t need billions to be among the “1 per cent”. A net worth of USD 3.5 million (SGD 4.76 million) puts you in that enviable bracket, according to The Wealth Report 2023 published by Knight Frank.
The international property consultancy firm, which opened a Private Office in Singapore in February 2022, has analysed data that show Singapore has the highest threshold in Asia for someone to make it to the “top 1 per cent” of individual net wealth — this indicates a higher average of per capita wealth in Singapore.
The island nation, as per figures released by Statisa in September 2022, had the highest gross national income (GNI) per capita in the Asia-Pacific region in 2021. The GNI values given by Statista were expressed in “international dollars”, which have the same purchasing power as US dollars at any given point of time.
The Singapore GNI, as per the Statista data, topped the chart with 102,450 international dollars, while the Hong Kong GNI, in second place, was at 70,700 international dollars. No wonder, it takes more wealth in Singapore than anywhere else in Asia to make the “1 per cent” cut.
Singapore is also one of the top business travel destinations in Asia, alongside Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Beijing, and Mumbai, in random order.
The Knight Frank data show that in Malaysia, a major Asian economy, an individual net wealth of USD485,000 (SGD656,673) would be enough to make it to the “1 per cent”.
As with the GNI chart, Hong Kong takes second place in the wealth report’s Asian “1 per cent” threshold, as one needs USD$3.4 million (SGD4.6 million) there, a figure very close to Singapore.
Besides these, the wealth report mentions the cut-offs in Japan at USD1.7 million (SGD2.3 million); China at USD960,000 (SGD1.29 million); and the Philippines at USD57,000 (SGD77,176), to qualify among the “1 per cent” in Asia.
The wealth report’s definition of a high-net-worth individual (HNWI) is someone with a net worth of USD1 million or more, including their primary residence.
As per the report, the number of HNWIs in Singapore has increased from 519,619 in 2021 to 570,548 in 2022. The report projects that in five years, by 2027, the number of HNWIs will be 815,699, an increase of nearly 43 per cent from the 2022 baseline figure.
As for the ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWI) category — this is for someone with an individual net worth of USD30 million (SGD40.6 million) or more, including their primary residence — Singapore has 4,498 of them as per 2022 data, an increase from 4,206 in 2021. The five-year projection says that the number of UHNWIs in Singpore will be 5,293 in 2027.