Citibank Hong Kong released its latest Hong Kong Decamillionaire Survey Report 2022/23 on Oct. 11. The data shows, as of June 2023, the number of “decamillionaires” in Hong Kong, that is, those having net assets of HK$10 million (US$1.28 million) or more dropped slightly to 408,000, a drop of 0.5 percent from the previous year. This accounts for about 7 percent of Hong Kong’s population aged between 21 to 79. In other words, for every 14 Hong Kong people within this age group, there is one decamillionaire.
The survey was conducted via phone to more than 1,700 Hong Kong citizens aged between 21 and 79 in each of the two periods, October to December 2022 and April to June 2023, with more than 3,400 people being interviewed.
A “decamillionaire” is defined as an individual with a total net worth of HK$10 million (US$1.28 million) or more and with at least HK$1 million (US$128,000) in liquid assets.
The survey found that the latest median net worth of this group of people is HK$16 million (US$ 2.05 million), which is slightly lower than the HK$16.5 million (US$2.11 million) in 2022 but shows an upward trend compared with the HK$15.7 million (US$2 million), and HK$15.5 million (US$1.98 million) in 2021 and 2020 respectively. However, the median current assets fell to HK$4.5 million (US$575,000) from HK$5.5 million (US$703,000) in 2022.
On average, 46 percent of the group put almost half of their liquid asset as cash, followed by stocks at 30 percent, funds at 19, and bonds at 3 percent. As of mid-2023, the penetration rates of all asset types among respondents have increased across the board compared with the end of 2022. The most notable increases are in funds, which increased by 15 percent from the end of 2022, followed by bonds, with a 9 percent increase from last year.
This survey also probed into the next generation of these people to explore the financial setup preferences from one generation to the next. It found that more than 60 percent of their children have bank accounts. The average age of opening such an account is 13. Nearly 90 percent of the decamillionaires are willing or do not mind talking about their family’s monthly expenditure with their children, but only about 30 percent are willing to disclose their personal asset status.
In addition, nearly 70 percent of the decamillionaire parents are willing to support their children in future property purchases, with an average amount of HK$2.4 million (US$307,000 million). However, 40 percent of their children are particularly expectant of their parents’ support to provide financial backup in raising their offspring, while only 30 percent of parents expressed their willingness to do so.
