Number of super-rich in Vietnam to reach 300 by 2024: UK report
Vietnam is expected to have around 300 super-rich people, or ultra-high net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) by 2024, according to the latest Wealth Report 2015 prepared by British property consultant firm Knight Frank.
The Southeast Asian country will also see the fastest growth rate in the number of UHNWIs at 159% in the 2014-2024 period, followed by Indonesia (132%) and the Ivory Coast (119%), the report said.
In 2014, Vietnam had 116 UHNWIs, up six percent from 2013 and 231% from 2004.
As defined by Knight Frank in the report, UHNWIs are those with assets of US$30 million or more.
Among the Vietnamese ultra-rich, the number of centa-millionaires, those with more than US$100 million in disposable assets, rose 214% in the 2004-2014 period to 22 people and will surge 155% to 56 individuals between 2014 and 2024, the world’s highest rate, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the number of billionaires is forecast to stand at three by 2024, a 200% rise compared to only one in 2014.
Knight Frank also predicted that Asian cities will see 91 percent growth in the number of super-rich people in the next decade, of which the highest growth rate will be in cities like Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Jakarta (Indonesia), Mumbai or Delhi (India).
According to the Wealth Report 2015, the number of super-rich people in the world increased to more than 172,000 people, with total assets of nearly US$22 trillion last year.
This group is expected to grow to 230,000 people by 2024, said the report.
On the world scale, by the end of 2014, London (UK) continued to be the city with the most super-rich people on the planet, with more than 4,300, followed by New York (US).
However, Singapore is slowly catching up with a growth rate of 54% last year, compared with only 21% for London.
Globally, the number of centa-millionaires went up by nearly 1,200 individuals to 38,280 people during that time.
In 2014, 53 people became billionaires, bringing the total number to more than 1,800 individuals, an increase of 82% compared with 10 years ago.
The number of super-rich people last year increased, despite weaker economic growth than expected due to political tensions, plunging oil prices, and the withdrawal of the US’s stimulus program, the report said.
Meanwhile, the prospects for this year are considered unpredictable.
Although the International Monetary Fund has lowered its global growth forecast for 2015 from 3.8% to 3.5%, this rate is still stronger than last year.
The emerging economies are forecast to grow by 4.3%, 2.4 percentage points higher than in developed countries.