Survey: Hong Kong has more female than male millionaires

Feb 14, 2007, 1:55 GMT

Hong Kong - There are more wealthy women than men in Hong Kong with female millionaires outnumbering their male counterparts, according to a survey published Wednesday.

The annual Citibank survey found that for the first time, women were a majority of those residents with liquid assets of at least 1 million Hong Kong dollars (128,000 US dollars).

An estimated 276,000 people in the former British colony, population 6.8 million, are now Hong-Kong-dollar millionaires, 51 per cent of them women.

The study also found that Hong Kong's millionaires are 40 per cent richer than a year ago, with average total assets including property and other holdings, of 12.8 million US dollars.

Explaining the trend toward women millionaires, Citibank executive Weber Lo told the South China Morning Post, which carried the survey, that it reflected Hong Kong's egalitarian society.

'Many women work in senior positions and are independent, with high earning power,' he told the newspaper. 'It is inevitable that the financial return of women from their jobs is higher than before.'

The survey found that 88 per cent of millionaires are married, 82 per cent invest in stocks, 75 per cent own property and 64 per cent read a newspaper business section of a newspaper every day.

Hong Kong, once famous for having the most Rolls Royces per capita in the world, remains one of the world's wealthiest cities, 10 years after reverting to Chinese rule.