May 20, 2024

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A view of apartment complexes in Seoul (Newsis)

There are over 80,000 individuals with wealth exceeding $1 million residing in Seoul, making it the 19th city in the world with the highest number of millionaires, a recent study found.

Around 82,500 residents in Seoul have wealth exceeding $1 million as of December, according to the “2024 World’s Wealthiest Cities” report issued by investment migration consultant Henry & Partners in collaboration with global data intelligence firm New World Wealth, Tuesday.

In the report, wealth refers to an individual’s liquid investable wealth, comprising company holdings, cash holdings and debt-free residential property holdings, Henry & Partners explained.

Seoul took the 19th spot on the millionaire resident list, following Houston, Texas with 90,900 and Zurich with 88,400. Geneva and Dubai followed the list with 79,800 and 72,500 respectively.

In addition, 195 individuals held wealth over $100 million and 20 residents had wealth exceeding $1 billion in Seoul. The number of billionaires in Seoul was larger than Tokyo’s 14.

However, the number of millionaires in Seoul dropped by more than 10,000 in a year, standing at 97,000 in last year’s report. The number of residents with wealth over $100 million and $1 billion also declined from 229 and 24, respectively.

The report did not specify the reason, but Asia's fourth-largest economy experienced a slowdown last year with its economy growing by 1.4 percent on-year, according to the Bank of Korea. Korea's stock market was one of the worst-performing bourses in Asia as well.

In the report, New York City topped the millionaire list with 349,500 residents with wealth exceeding $1 million, followed by 305,700 millionaires in the Bay Area, California, including San Francisco, Tokyo’s 298,300 and Singapore’s 244,800.

According to the report, the total wealth held by New York residents exceeds $3 trillion -- higher than the total wealth held in most major G20 countries.

Seoul has been showing sharp growth in its wealth. The number of millionaires in Seoul has risen by 28 percent over the past decade from 2013 to 2023, while the figure dropped by 5 percent in Tokyo and 10 percent in London during the same period. Seoul’s growth rate, however, was lower than the 30 percent observed in last year’s report.

Chinese cities took the lead in the growth rate of the number of millionaires, with the figure rising by 140 percent in Shenzhen, 125 percent in Hangzhou and 90 percent in Beijing.

Dominic Volek, head of private clients at Henley & Partners, said seven of the top 10 wealthiest cities in the world are in countries that host investment migration programs, encouraging foreign direct investment in return for residence or citizenship rights.

"The more jurisdictions a family can access, the more diversified its assets, the lower its exposure to country-specific and regional risks, and the greater the opportunities they can enjoy,” Volek said.

“Likewise, cities and countries can use investment migration as an innovative financing mechanism to attract the world’s wealthiest and most talented to their shores.”

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)