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.”
