When I Was Young

From World News

Today • Thursday • June 26, 2008

INDIA and China have the world’s fastest-growing populations of millionaires, with a penchant for luxury travel, gems and designer clothes, a study released yesterday revealed.

The number of Indian millionaires jumped 22.7 per cent last year to 123,000, followed by China where the number jumped 20.3 per cent to 415,000, said the 12th annual World Wealth Report, prepared by US investment bank Merrill Lynch and information technology group Capgemini.

“In the Asia-Pacific region, wealth is being created at an unprecedented rate,” said Mr Kong Eng Huat, South Asia market managing director at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management.

“Notwithstanding the recent dislocation in global markets, the robust economies in Asia are increasingly being driven by the domestic consumption story and continue to spur wealth creation in the region.”

The report said China surpassed France as the world’s fifth-largest population of high net worth individuals, people with net assets of at least US$1 million excluding their primary residence.

Also among the fastest-growing were South Korea, where the millionaire population rose by 18.9 per cent to 118,000, and Indonesia, which saw a 16.8 per cent rise to 23,000, the report said.

Singapore saw a 15.3 per cent rise to 77,000 millionaires, it added.

Despite financial turmoil and significant increases in the price of luxury goods, the report said the world’s millionaires have an “unquenchable appetite” for luxury items.

Jewellery, gems and watches attracted the largest share of these “passion investment allocations” in Asia and the Middle East, the report said.

Globally, these high-priced toys tend to be art collections, yachts, personal jets and similar items, the report added.

But there are regional differences, with Asia’s millionaires allocating the most to items such as luxury and “experiential” travel, visits to high-end spas and designer clothes. — AFP