Hong Kong home to 1,100 ultra rich

Hong Kong  ranked 15 amongst countries with most numbers of adults having USD50m+ worth of total assets.

Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2012 estimates suggest that worldwide there are 84,500 UHNW individuals, defined here as those with net assets exceeding USD 50 million.

Of these, 29,300 are worth at least USD 100 million and 2,700 have assets above USD 500 million. North
America dominates the regional rankings, with 40,000 UHNW residents (47%), while Europe has 22,000 individuals (26%), and 12,800 (15%) reside in Asia-Pacific countries, excluding China and India.

In terms of individual countries, the USA leads by a huge margin with 37,950 UHNW individuals, equivalent to 45% of the group.

Credit Suisse explained that the recent fortunes created in China have propelled it into second place with 4,700 representatives (5.6% of the global total), followed by Germany (4,000), Japan (3,400), the United Kingdom (3,200) and Switzerland (3,050).

Numbers in other BRIC countries are also rising fast, with 1,950 members in Russia, 1,550 in India and 1,500 in
Brazil, and strong showings are evident in Taiwan (1,200), Hong Kong (1,100) and Turkey (1,000).

According to Credit Suisse, although there is very little comparable data on the past, it is almost certain that the number of UHNW individuals is considerably greater than it was a decade ago.

"The overall growth in asset values accounts for part of the increase, together with the appreciation of currencies against the US dollar over much of the period. However, it also appears that, notwithstanding the credit crisis and the more recent setbacks, the past decade has been especially conducive to the establishment of large fortunes," said Credit Suisse.