Asia Leads Global Wealth Growth - BCG

Vanessa Doctor

13 June 2010

Asia Pacific topped a recent study as the region with the fastest growing wealth volume in 2009, posting a 22 per cent rise, or $3.1 trillion, from the end of 2007.

In the research by Boston Consulting Group, the Asian total, excluding Japan, was almost double the global rate, trumping North America. Second on the list is Latin American wealth, which registered a 16 per cent increase. North America managed to record 15 per cent growth, which is equivalent to $4.6 trillion.

According to the firm, Asian wealth is also tipped to rise at a much faster rate than the rest of the world over the next four years.

"We expect Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) to grow at nearly twice the global rate, raising its share of global wealth from 15 per cent in 2009 to almost 20 per cent in 2014," said Tjun Tan, a BCG partner and co-author of the report.

Singapore and Malaysia were the highest contributors to Asia's wealth increase and recorded the largest number of millionaire households in the year. Singapore was up 35 per cent, followed by Malaysia with 33 per cent, Slovakia with 32 per cent, and then China with 31 per cent.

On a global level, wealth grew 11.5 per cent to $111.5 trillion dollars, with BCG forecasting the annual rate to hit 60 per cent by 2014.