Cici Cao
A total of 74 billionaires among 981 in the Asia-Pacific region are from Hong Kong, a UBS report shows.
The total billionaire wealth increased by 121 percent globally from US$6.3 trillion (HK$49.14 trillion) to US$14 trillion between 2015 and 2024, with the number of billionaires growing by more than half, according to the 10th UBS Billionaire Ambitions report.
UBS tracked the wealth of more than 2,500 billionaires across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on the last decade.
The Swiss bank also conducted an online survey using 82 billionaire clients across the world's main regions from June to September.
The report found the number of billionaires in Asia-Pacific fell 3.7 percent from 1,019 in 2023, while the wealth increased by 1.8 percent to US$3.8 trillion.
Mainland billionaires fell to 427 from 520, with wealth shrinking by 20 percent year-on-year to US$1.4 trillion, while Hong Kong recorded 74 billionaires - six more than last year, with wealth increasing slightly by 1.4 percent to US$326 billion.
The bank said the growth of new billionaires has fallen amid the declining growth rate of global economies - not only in China, adding that the upcoming US tariff threats could be partly offset by Beijing's further stimuli.
The past decade has seen the number of global billionaires rise from 1,757 to 2,682, with 1,877 self-made billionaires and 805 multi-generational in 2024.
