Singapore Business Review – 59 minutes ago
Singapore's average net per capita financial assets reached EUR 58,220 at the end of 2011.
According to Allianz' third edition of its "Global Wealth Report",
growth in the up-and-coming economies of Asia has been far from
lackluster. Savers in these regions have been consistently reporting
stellar asset growth rates since the turn of the millennium, with net
per capita financial assets growing at annual rates running into the
double digits on average.
Although the financial crisis of 2007/08 also prompted a marked
slowdown in these regions, the annual growth rates remain robust at
between 7% and 10%. On the other hand, average per capita assets only
correspond to a fraction of the values seen in the established
industrialized nations.
In this respect, Singapore behaves like an advanced economy. Last year,
Singapore reported an increase of +3.4% in its net per capita financial
assets, 11% ahead of the pre-crisis high reached in 2007. If we
consider an even longer timeframe, Singapore achieves a solid
performance when it comes to growth in net per capita financial assets,
at an annual growth rate of 7.8% since 2000.
In a global comparison, Singapore ranked 8th in the list of the richest
countries, with average net per capita financial assets totaling EUR
58,220 at the end of 2011 (compared to 16th in 2000). Singapore’s global
advance is owed mainly to its subdued increase in private debt, in
contrast to many Western economies.
As in the previous year, the Allianz Global Wealth Report classifies
countries included in the analysis into three wealth classes. Singapore
belongs to the group of "high wealth countries" (HWCs), where average
net per capita financial assets come in at more than EUR 26,800.
By contrast, the growth of the middle class in the HWCs is fairly
modest at 14%; most importantly, the growth is also moving in a
different direction in these countries: more members of the wealth
middle class means fewer members of the wealth upper class. All in all,
this means that the number of "rich" people has fallen slightly – in
spite of population growth – since 2000 (-4%), a trend that also applies
to the world's "poor" (-2%). The global wealth middle class is the only
class that is growing.
Commenting on the growth of wealth in Singapore, Allianz Asia Pacific
regional CEO David Fried said, “Singapore has shown strong resilience
throughout the financial and debt crisis. This is very good news for the
people here. However it is essential not to forget that demographic and
behavioural forces remain in place, which makes it critical to save
more for retirement.
Like other societies throughout the world and in particular Asia,
people are living longer and have fewer children. Living longer is a
mixed blessing. The longer one spends in retirement, the greater the
need for savings and retirement income.”
