Economic Downturn in China Hits the Wealthy Hard... Number of Ultra-High Net Worth Individuals Declines

3.8% Decrease in Households with Assets Over 100 Million Yuan
Concentrated in Beijing, Guangdong, and Shanghai

Since the spread of COVID-19, ultra-high-net-worth individuals in China have also been affected due to the slowdown in economic growth. The number of ultra-high-net-worth households with assets exceeding 100 million yuan (approximately 18.5 billion KRW) showed a decline for the first time in four years, and the total asset size also retreated.

Hurun Research Institute, known as the Chinese version of Forbes, announced the "2023 Hurun Rich List" on the 19th, revealing that as of early last year, the number of households in China with ultra-high net assets of 100 million yuan had decreased by 5,200 households (3.8%) year-on-year to 133,000 households.

The decrease in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals is the first in four years since 2019. Before the spread of COVID-19 in 2019, the number of 100 million yuan asset holders in China was 128,000 households, which had decreased by 6,000 households compared to the previous year.

The number of wealthy households with assets of 6 million yuan was 5.14 million, down 40,000 households (0.8%) from the previous year, and households with assets exceeding 10 million yuan were 2.08 million, down 27,000 households (1.3%) year-on-year.

By region, the areas with the highest concentration of wealthy individuals were Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Ningbo followed. The top 30 cities accounted for 67% of all affluent households, a slight decrease in concentration compared to last year's 68%.

The number of ultra-high-net-worth households with assets over 100 million yuan was highest in Beijing with 19,400 households, followed by Guangdong (17,300 households) and Shanghai (16,800 households). Households with assets over 10 million yuan were concentrated in Guangdong (300,000 households), Beijing (299,000 households), and Shanghai (265,000 households).

The majority of ultra-high-net-worth households were business owners (79%), a slight increase from 75% last year. The proportions of professional stock investors and real estate investors were 14% and 7%, respectively, each down 2 percentage points from the previous year.

Hurun Research Institute founder Hurun stated, "The impact of the pandemic combined with changes in the international geopolitical landscape has increased uncertainty in global economic development," adding, "The number of high-net-worth individuals in China has decreased twice in the past 15 years." He further explained, "However, the asset decline among ultra-high-net-worth individuals worldwide with net assets exceeding 30 million USD (approximately 40.1 billion KRW) reached 10%," indicating that Chinese wealthy individuals were relatively less affected.

Meanwhile, this year's Hurun Rich List added 38 new sample cities. Currently, the survey covers a total of 108 cities, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and 31 provinces and cities in mainland China. Hurun Research Institute explained that this survey is conducted to provide a more detailed view of the size and distribution of wealthy households in China.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.