Hong Kong wealth gap narrows over past 15 years, but rival Singapore sees 23% increase

Wealth inequality drops by 6 per cent in past 15 years in Hong Kong, and academics say weakened property market and departures could be why

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The gap between rich and poor in Hong Kong has narrowed, a survey by an international investment bank has found. Photo: Jelly Tse

Published: 9:44pm, 11 Jul 2024Updated: 3:13am, 12 Jul 2024

Wealth inequality in Hong Kong dropped by 6 per cent over the past 15 years, but rival Singapore recorded an almost 23 per cent increase over the same period, a report by a multinational bank has found.

Academics on Thursday attributed much of the narrowing of the wealth gap in Hong Kong identified in the UBS Global Wealth Report to a weakened property market and the exodus of people from the city in recent years.

The survey by Swiss-based investment bank and financial services giant UBS, which analysed 56 markets, also projected that Hong Kong would see higher growth in the number of US-dollar millionaires in the city compared with Singapore over the next few years.

It said Hong Kong would be home to 737,716 millionaires by 2028, a 17 per cent increase on 629,155 last year.

Singapore is projected to have a 13 per cent increase in the number of US dollar millionaires, going from 333,204 to 375,725, over the same period.

The report explained wealth inequality was measured by the Gini index on a scale of zero to 100. It added the definition of wealth included financial and real assets owned by households, minus debts.