Singapore’s affluent population to grow 3.4% to 1.32 million in 2022

This will be driven by the recovery in equities and mutual funds.

Singapore’s affluent population is expected to grow by 3.4% to 1.32 million in 2022 based on analytics company, GlobalData’s forecast.

In 2020, the population—which includes mass affluent investors or those with liquid assets of $68,412 to $1,368,240 (US$50,000 to US$1m), and high-net-worth (HNW) individuals who hold liquid assets of more than $1,368,240 (US$1m)—declined by 3.1%.

By the end of 2021, however, GlobalData said Singapore’s wealthy will account for 28.4% of its total population.

The analytics firm said the growth in the number of affluent individuals will be driven by the rebound of the wealth market in 2021 and 2022, particularly equities and mutual funds, which both saw declines in 2020 by 4.6% and 0.6%, respectively.

“The financial market is expected to rebound in 2021 with improving economic conditions,” the firm said.
Apart from the gradual economic recovery, Ravi Sharma, lead banking and payments analyst of GlobalData, said the financial market’s improvement will also be buoyed by the rise in investors’ confidence.

“The investors are shifting away from deposits towards riskier assets such as equities and mutual funds,” Sharma said, adding that this will also “accelerate the growth of affluent individuals in the next two years.

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