A new report on the world’s wealthiest cities has revealed one place is home to a staggering 244,800 millionaires – more than 4 per cent of the population.
Around one in 25 residents of Asian city-state Singapore have seven-figure bank accounts. The booming city also has 336 centi-millionaires – meaning a net worth higher than £100million – and 30 billionaires, reports The Mirror.
The 2024 World’s Wealthiest Cities Report, by Henley and Partners, placed Singapore fourth in the list – leapfrogging London and behind only New York and San Francisco in the US and Japan’s capital Tokyo. Singapore’s impressive levels of affluence mean a total of 4.31 per cent of the population are millionaires – a stat which has grown by 64 per cent over the last 12 years.
It’s estimated that in 2023, some 3400 people with high net worth moved to Singapore. The city’s richest billionaires include Facebook co-founder Eduardo Luiz Saverin, property developers Robert and Philip Ng and Li Xiting, chairman and co-founder of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics.
Analysts say super-wealthy tycoons and investors are drawn by the city’s thriving economy, light-touch tax regime and its strategic location in Southeast Asia. It’s also known for its safety and order, cleanliness and stunning architecture, like the impressive Marina Bay Skyline.
Singapore is an ancient settlement that began as a fishing village and outpost for the Srivijayan Empire under the name Temasek up until around the 14th century. It later adopted the same Singapore which may have been taken from the term ‘Singapura’ which means ‘Lion City’.
A trading post for the British Empire was founded there in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. Following colonial rule, Singapore was briefly part of Malaysia before gaining independence in 1965.
It has since rapidly industrialised to transform itself into one of the world’s great financial centres and seen enormous economic growth.
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