The millionaire population in Singapore stood at around 526.4 thousand in 2021 and is projected to increase to about 592 thousand in 2026. This estimated growth in the millionaire population reflects the trend of increasing household wealth in Singapore, which grew by more than 146 percent since 2000.

Millionaire’s playground
In 2022, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Singapore as the world’s most expensive city alongside Hong Kong and Paris. The high cost of living in Singapore is in large part due to the extremely high cost of owning a car, as well as high property and food prices. With the tenth highest average wealth per adult in the world, and relatively low financial inequality, it seems that the residents of Singapore are able to afford life in the city with the third most expensive beer prices in the world.

Declining wealth in old age
The reality, however, is far less glamorous. While the median wealth per adult increased in 2019 from 2018, it was still the second-lowest value in the past five years. Many Singaporeans are feeling the pinch, especially the most vulnerable members of society, such as the elderly, who make up the majority of the workforce in jobs such as cleaning. Worryingly, many Singaporeans are also not financially prepared for retirement. This could lead to increasing inequality in the future, with many people unable to afford the lifestyle that they are accustomed to.

This statistic depicts the number of centa-millionaires living in Singapore from 2006 to 2016 with a forecast for 2026. In 2016, Singapore had approximately *** millionaires worth 100 million U.S. dollars or more.

Iceland was the country with the highest rate of millionaires worldwide in 2022, with more than ***percent of the adult population owning assets worth more than one million U.S. dollars. Luxembourg followed behind with ** percent of the population being millionaires, with Switzerland in third.

In 2019, there were ** billionaires residing in Singapore. The number of billionaires was forecasted to increase to ** in 2024. In 2019, Singapore is one of the world's wealthiest countries in terms of per capita GDP.

In 2023, there were ***** ultra-high net worth individuals residing in Singapore. This was forecasted to increase to ***** in 2026.

In 2021, there were around 70 thousand millionaires living in Malaysia. This figure is projected to increase to more than 130 thousand in five years’ time. Should the Malaysian economy continue its less than robust growth, however, this figure might have to be revised.

A positive outlook for the wealthy in Malaysia
2020 was not a good year for both the high-net worth individuals and ultra-high net worth individuals (UNHWI) in Malaysia. Compared to 2019, most were optimistic that the global economy in that year was more conducive to preserving and growing their clients' wealth as a majority of private bankers and wealth advisers in Malaysia reported increases in client wealth in that year. However, the HNWIs and UNHWIs live a life far removed from the average Malaysian. In 2019, only 3.9 percent of adults in Malaysia have wealth exceeding 100 thousand U.S. dollars. By comparison, this figure was 49.4 percent in neighboring Singapore.

Excesses of the ultra-rich
In the past year, the Malaysian public has been exposed to the excesses of the rich and powerful through the 1MDB scandal. This saw the then Prime Minister Najib Razak being accused of embezzling from state funds. The media widely publicized the seizure of luxury handbags belonging to Najib’s wife, each of which costs was more than the average Malaysian’s monthly salary. The public’s distaste for Najib’s extravagant lifestyle was so apparent that when his election rival, Mahathir Mohd, was photographed wearing four-dollar sandals, his picture went viral on social media.

The statistic shows the countries with high immigration rates of millionaires from China in 2013. 60 percent of Chinese millionaires surveyed have already emigrated or have made an application. In 2013, Singapore came in at 5th place with 13 percent of Chinese millionaires immigrating there.

In 2020, individuals of Chinese descent made up over ** percent of the billionaires across all selected Southeast Asian countries. The highest share was reported in Singapore, with ** percent of the country's billionaires being of Chinese descent.

In 2019, there were approximately 342 billionaires residing in China, the highest number of billionaires in any country or territory in the Asia-Pacific region. Comparatively, there were 45 billionaires living in Singapore in 2019.