Aug 16, 2012
by Romesh NavaratnarajahSingapore
is set to be among the world's richest economies by 2050 on a per
capita basis, according to a study by Knight Frank and Citibank.
Other
Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea topped the
list on the back of rapid growth in the Asian region.
Moreover, Asian multi-millionaires are expected to outnumber their counterparts in North America and Western Europe by 2050.
Singapore
topped the list in the 2010 rankings and is expected to retain the same
spot by 2050 when its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita hits
US$137,710 (S$172,000).
At the same time, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the US are expected to complete the top five.
Grainne
Gilmore, Head of UK Residential Research at Knight Frank, said: "While
rapid GDP growth does not in itself guarantee a sharp rise in
high-net-worth individuals, rapidly growing economies do provide key
opportunities for large-scale wealth creation."
Gilmore noted
that there are currently around 18,000 "centa-millionaires", or those
with at least US$100 million (S$125 million) in assets throughout the
region covering Southeast Asia, Japan and China. This figure is expected
to grow to 26,000 by 2016.
"Southeast Asian deca-millionaires -
those with US$10 million (S$12.5 million) or more in assets - already
outnumber those in Europe and are expected to overtake those in the US
in the coming decade," she added.
