Malaysia’s capital city is home to the highest number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), or persons with a net worth of at least US$1 million, according to a recent report from WealthInsight.
With 13,800 millionaires, Kuala Lumpur beat out Abu Dhabi (12,500), Cape Town (8,753) and Birmingham (8,736) for HNWIs.
WealthInsight also revealed that the total number of millionaires in Malaysia surged by 45.5 percent to 26,105 individuals between 2009 and 2013, due to the country’s strong economy during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
“Since becoming an Islamic banking hub, Malaysia has seen a large surge in investment to its shores, increasing by 52.6 percent since 2008 to US$11.6 billion,” said WealthInsight analyst Tom Carlisle.
“Malaysia has also seen a large increase in HNWIs acquiring their wealth in finance as well as in real estate and construction, increasing by 64.8 percent, 57.2 percent and 55.1 percent respectively,” he added.
Looking ahead, the number of millionaires in the country is expected to surge to 30,054 people over the next four years from 26,000 in 2013, while Malaysia’s total wealth is forecasted to jump to US$206 billion from just US$151 billion.
“Malaysian wealth grew at the remarkable rate of 59.6 percent between 2009 and 2013 and is expected to increase by a further 28 percent to reach US$206 billion in 2018,” noted Carlisle.
Furthermore, the country’s population of billionaires is predicted to surpass that of oil-rich United Arab Emirates by 2018.
Farah Wahida, Editor of PropertyGuru Malaysia, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my
