More rich becoming less richer in Hong Kong

The continuing economic slump reduced the ranks of the rich in Hong Kong by over 17% in 2011.

The fairly large loss in the number of rich residents was traced to the volatile stock market that wiped out a great portion of the wealth of those who are no longer "High Net Worth Individuals" (HNWIs), according to the latest Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2012. Many of Hong Kong's wealthy derive their wealth from substantial exposures in the stock market, whose falling fortunes have reflected the economic downturn plaguing the city.

The city's benchmark Hang Seng Index plummeted over 4,600 points in 2011, losing 20% of its value.

The report also showed that the average wealth among HNWIs in the city fell by about 20% with a large proportion dropping out of the HNWI bracket. The report defined wealthy individuals as those with investable assets of US$1 million or more.

Surprisingly, however, the number of HNWIs in the Asia Pacific region grew by 1.6% to reach 3.4 million last year. This is the first time the number of rich in the Asia Pacific has exceeded the number in North America, said the report.

There were more rich persons in Thailand, Indonesia and mainland China, where the number of rich population had grown by 13%, 8% and 5%, respectively.

In 2011, over 76% of the region's rich live in Japan, mainland China and Australia compared to 74% in 2010. The group's total wealth, however, dropped 1.1% to HK$10.7 trillion in 2011, said the report.