Number of ultra-rich Vietnamese to reach 1,551 by 2026, up 26%

The growth in Vietnam was mirrored by the dynamic Asia Pacific region, which trailed only North America in the growth of its UHNWI population, according to Knight Frank’s latest Wealth Report.

By 2026, the country could have 1,551 ultra-rich people, much higher than the number of 1,234  in 2021. The HNWI group which includes people with a net worth of $1 million or more, including their primary residence, will have 114,807 people by 2026, an increase of 59 percent from 2021.

In 2021, the country’s HNWI population was around 72,135 people.

Vietnam is expected to be prominent in this report in the next few years as economic fundamentals and Vietnam’s position on the world stage continue to accelerate, said Knight Frank Vietnam Managing Director Alex Crane.

Prime apartment sales break the $10,000 barrier this year driven by local demand, and with Vietnam expected to increase 26 percent in number of UHNWIs between 2021 and 2026 on par with Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan as the economy has potential for ongoing growth well into the future, he added.

Local import data mirrors these findings for Vietnam, which has seen the import of watches increase 28.2 percent annually from 2016 – 2020 despite the impact of Covid-19. Car sales and wine import, prior to being impacted by the pandemic, had consistently maintained positive growth.

Source: Knight Frank

For the first time, NFT sales have risen to prominence among HNWIs, with world’s main auction houses selling $228 million of NFT or crypto art last year, while in total over $81 billion of NFTs were sold via online platforms and this trend looks set to continue.

Despite slower growth in 2021, Asia-Pacific’s foothold as host to the world’s leading wealth hubs remains strong as ever. The number of billionaires in Asia-Pacific is also expected to rise quicker than the global average, said Victoria Garrett, head of residential at Knight Frank Asia-Pacific.

Knight Frank forecasts that the global UHNW population will grow by a further 28 percent, with Asia and Australasia (+33%) seeing the largest growth, followed by North America (+28%) and Latin America (+26%).

The world’s population of UHNWIs rose by 9.3 percent in 2021, following on from growth of 2.4 percent in 2020, according to the report.