Asia-Pacific drives global wealth growth

SINGAPORE — Wealth in Asia-Pacific grew faster than in other regions around the world in 2009, according to a new global study.

The region, excluding Japan, added 22%, or US$3.1 trillion, to its coffers from the end of 2007, a study conducted by US-based business advisory firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) stated.

“That was nearly double the global rate,” the report, released on Friday, said.

Latin American wealth grew second-fastest, registering a 16% rise.

The Asia-Pacific’s pace of wealth growth trumped North America, which had the largest global absolute rise at US$4.6 trillion (15%).

Wealth is also tipped to grow in the Asia-Pacific at a faster rate than its global counterparts in the next four years, said BCG partner Tjun Tang.

“We expect Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, to grow at nearly twice the global rate, raising its share of global wealth from 15% in 2009 to almost 20% in 2014,” the coauthor of the report said.

Globally, wealth increased by 11.5% to US$111.5 trillion, just short of the year-end peak reached in 2007, with BCG projecting global wealth to grow at an average annual rate of nearly 6% to 2014.

North America accounted for about 40% of the increase in global wealth in 2009, reaching US$35.1 trillion last year.

The number of millionaire households worldwide also rose almost 14% to 11.2 million, with Singapore and Malaysia leading the pack, BCG said.

“Singapore saw the highest growth in millionaire households, up 35%, followed by 33% for Malaysia, 32% for Slovakia, and 31% for China.” — AFP