Hong Kong dislodged as home to the world's largest super-rich population in 2018

New York reclaimed the crown as the trade dispute hammered the SAR.

Hong Kong fell out of grace as city with the largest population of high-net worth individuals (HNWIs) in the world as New York took advantage of the protracted trade dispute to zoom past the embattled SAR and reclaim the top spot in 2018, according to a report from wealth consultancy Wealth-X.

The number of individuals in Hong Kong with a net worth of US$1m to US$30m fell 11.1% YoY to 391,595 in 2018 as the elite packed their bags out of tumultous Hong Kong and seek safe haven elsewhere.

Also read: Hong Kong is the second largest offshore wealth center

On the other hand, New York had nearly a million such individuals at 978,810 although the headline number actually represents a 0.6% decrease. This is nearly double that of the number of HNW individuals in Tokyo last year who came in at second place with 593,025 whilst Los Angeles follows closely with 576,255 individuals. London rounds out the top five with 372,270 HNW individuals.

America featured prominently in the list with six of the top HNW cities including Chicago, San Francisco, Washington and Dallas. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to outpace other regions - including the US - in terms of ultra-rich population over the next five years. In fact, 32 of the 40 fastest growing cities are located in China.