SINGAPORE: Even as the world faces increasing challenges, the ultra-wealthy have gained more wealth, with the global billionaire population expanding by 4 per cent last year.
This is a reversal of 2022’s decline, and the wealth of billionaires has gone up by 9 per cent to a record US$12.1 trillion (SGD16.17 trillion), according to Altrata’s Billionaire Census 2024.
Among the top 15 cities for billionaires, with New York as number one, Singapore ranked eighth.
There are now 58 billionaires across the Little Red Dot, four more than in 2022. Moreover, the total wealth of Singapore’s billionaires is US$108 billion (SGD145.53 billion).
The top five billionaire cities are as follows:
- New York (144 billionaires, +9 from 2022)
- Hong Kong (107 billionaires, -9 from 2022)
- San Francisco (87 billionaires, +3 from 2022)
- London (78 billionaires, +3 from 2022)
- Moscow (77 billionaires, +1 from 2022)
On a country-wide level, Singapore ranks 13th on the list of the top 15 billionaire countries. The United States, with 1,050 billionaires, takes pole position, followed by China (304), Germany (170), India (131) and the United Kingdom (122).
North America has one-third (1,111) of all the billionaires around the globe.
“Billionaires made up less than 1 per cent of the global ultra-high net worth population yet held 25 per cent of this group’s total wealth in 2023,” Altrata’s report notes.
The report added that 18 people are in the highest tier of billionaire wealth, having a fortune higher than US$50 billion (SGD67.36 billion).
These so-called “super billionaires” hold 16 per cent of global billionaire wealth, a substantial increase from just 4 per cent a decade ago. Their total net worth is now US$2 trillion (SGD 2.7 trillion).
In comparison, over half of all billionaires have a net worth between US$1 billion (SGD1.35 billion) and $2 billion (SGD2.7 billion).
Asia is the only region globally that has seen a drop in billionaires, falling by 3.5 per cent. In comparison, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of high-net-worth individuals in North America (33.4 per cent) and Europe (29.5 per cent).
Despite the decline of billionaires in Asia, India saw the biggest increase last year, with its billionaire population growing by 16 per cent.
However, China’s billionaire population decreased by over 14 per cent, and Hong Kong saw a decline in the billionaire population for the third year in a row.
North America has the highest percentage of wealth around the world (41.5), followed by Europe (26.3), and Asia (21.2).
Finally, among the 3,323 billionaires around the globe, only 13 per cent, or 431, are female. /TISG
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