Singaporeans Are Still the Richest in Asia, But They Also Have the Most Debt

Singaporean households have remained the richest among its Asian counterparts for three consecutive years now, a financial services company report recently revealed. The findings however, also indicated that they have the highest amount of debt.

According the seventh edition of the Global Wealth Report released by firm Allianz last week, the gross financial assets per capita of Singapore amounted to $128, 000 at the close of 2015. The amount was the highest among 10 richest countries that it surveyed from Asia, reports TodayOnline.

Gross financial assets measure the amounts of stocks, bonds, bank deposits and cash. The report stated that 37% of the portfolio of Singaporean households were bank deposits.

Japanese households came in second place with with $121,900, and Taiwan came in third with $111,350.

Interestingly, China, considered as Asia’s largest economy, trailed way below in seventh place with a gross financial assets per capita of $16,000.

The firm’s report cited that it was the countries’ financial systems maturity that mostly dictated their place in the rankings.

“The percentage of the population that has access to an account held with a financial institution is one indicator of how developed a financial system is. In those countries with high per capita financial assets — Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Israel — more than 90 per cent of the population over the age of 15 has a bank account and, as a result, access to financial services,” the report stated.

The report, which reviewed the asset and debt situation of households in more than 50 countries, further stated that access to financial services in countries like Malaysia, China, Thailand, India and Indonesia have yet to improve.

In terms of liabilities of households, Singapore was also found to have the highest debt per capita in the region with loans amounting to an average $39,157 per household while Japan placed number two with loans at an average of $27,784, followed by South Korea averaging $24,900 per home.