HK’s wealthy to grow annually by an average of 3.3% between 2022-2026

The city’s affluent population accounted for 56.7% of its total population in 2021.

With continued expansion of the wealth market, experts believe that the number of affluent individuals in Hong Kong will grow yearly by 3.3% between 2022 to 2026.

According to data analytics company GlobalData, the affluent population accounted for 56.7% of the city state’s total population at the end of 2021. 

This year, GlobalData expects the affluent population, which includes mass affluent investors (holding liquid assets of $50,000–$1m) and high-net-worth (HNW) individuals (holding liquid assets of more than $1m) to grow by 3.7%.

Here’s more from GlobalData:

After witnessing two years of recession spurred by anti-government protests, Sino-US trade frictions, and the devastating impact of the pandemic, Hong Kong’s economy rebounded in 2021 with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.4%.

A revival in global economic activity and the special administrative region (SAR)’s central role in international trade and finance led to robust export performance and improved private consumption in 2021. This was also supported by the government's pandemic containment measures, supportive stimulus packages, and vaccination program.

Hong Kong’s retail savings and investment market remained resilient and registered a continued inflow of funds despite the difficult situation. It was able to register a growth of 8% in 2020 and 9% in 2021 in the value of its retail savings and investments market, thereby positioning itself as a favourable destination for global investors and wealth management companies.

The expansion of the market was mainly driven by growth in mutual funds, leading to an increase in the affluent population by 2.7% during the same period.  Equities have been the greatest weakness for the SAR in recent years, with a marginal decline of 0.6% in 2021, as investor sentiment deteriorated amid the resurgence of COVID-19 infections, mainland regulatory requirements, and uncertainty surrounding the global economic outlook.