Singapore's household wealth rises 2.9% in 2016 to $1.1 trillion

SINGAPORE'S household wealth grew 2.9 per cent in 2016 to reach US$1.1 trillion and this upward trajectory is expected to continue in the next few years, says a global wealth report.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute on Tuesday published its seventh annual global wealth report which projected the Republic's household wealth to rise 3.5 per cent per year in the next five years to reach US$1.4 trillion in 2021.

And even as growth slows, Singapore's wealth per adult rose 1.4 per cent to US$277,000 in 2016, making Singapore seventh top economy in the world with the highest average wealth per adult.

The report said this is expected to rise 2.2 per cent per annum to reach US$309,000 in 2021. This would compare to annual growth rate of 6 per cent from 2000 to 2016, led by high savings, asset price increases, and a favourable rising exchange rate from 2005 to 2012.

Financial assets make up 54 per cent of gross household wealth in Singapore, a ratio similar to that of Switzerland and the United Kingdom, the report said.

Wealth distribution in Singapore is moderately unequal, with 18 per cent of its adult population with wealth below US$10,000, compared with 73 per cent globally.

"Singaporeans have also progressed rapidly up the wealth pyramid, with now 50 per cent of adults having wealth above US$100,000, compared to 21 per cent in 2000, while those with wealth below US$100,000 have declined from 79 per cent to 50 per cent of adult population," said the report.

In 2016, Singapore has 150,000 millionaires, up 2 per cent, with a total of US$541 billion in wealth.

The number of ultra high net worth individuals here grew even faster, at 14.2 per cent to 885.

By 2021, the report said, the number of millionaires is forecast to grow 4.2 per cent per annum to 185,000.

Other trends mentioned in the report include how the overall growth in global wealth remained limited in 2016 and that in the mid term, only moderate acceleration is expected.

This article was first published on November 22, 2016.
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