China Now Home to World’s Second Largest Number of Wealthy Individuals at 2.3 Million in Total

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A new report indicates that China has emerged as the country with the world’s second largest wealth market after overtaking Japan.

According to the report from Wealth-X the population of wealthy people in China, defined as those whose net worth is USD$1 million or more, currently stands at around 2.3 million.

The report breaks down the wealthy into the three categories of:

  • High net worth individual (HNW), defined as those with $1 million – $5 million in net worth;
  • Very high net worth individuals (VHNW), defined as those with $5 million – $30 million in net worth, and
  • Ultra high net worth (UNHW), defined as those with net worth in excess of $30 million.

According to the report the number of HNW individuals in China is currently 1,993,005, with combined wealth of $3.763 trillion, while the number of VHNW is 248,505 individuals, with combined wealth of $2.476 trillion.

The number of Chinese UHNW individuals is 4,204, with combined wealth of $4.202 trillion, well ahead of the combined wealth of China’s nearly two million HNW individuals.

Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen are host to the largest number of wealthy people in China, with 127,915, 101,365 and 85,480 HNW individuals respectively.

1,700 UNHW individuals reside in Shanghai, 1,390 in Beijing and 1,155 in Shenzhen.

The average age of Chinas ultra wealthy is 53.5 with 63.1% of them aged between 50 and 65, and a quarter of them under 50.

93.5% of these ultra wealthy individuals are self-made, with only 2.6% inheriting their fortunes.

China’s UNHW individuals hold more of their wealth in private and public holdings than the average for the world as a whole.

Private holdings account for 37.2% of the asset allocations of Chinese UHNW individuals, followed by private holdings (32.1%), liquid assets (23.3%) and real estate and luxury assets (7.4%).