In Vietnam, the rich are getting richer at a fast clip

By Dat Nguyen September 6, 2018 | 01:18 am PT

A woman bikes past Trang Tien Plaza shopping mall in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Vietnam is the third fastest growing country in terms of ultra high net worth, a new report says.

The World Ultra Wealth Report 2018, released Wednesday, has ranked Vietnam third with a compound annual growth rate of 12.7 percent among the ultra high net worth (UHNW) population, behind Bangladesh with 17.3 percent and China with 13.4 percent.

Compiled by Wealth-X, a leading global wealth information and insight business, the report defines UHNW population as people with $30 million or more in net worth.

Vietnam, Bangladesh and India, are expanding at a faster pace and experiencing rapid urbanization, infrastructure investment and manufacturing growth, it added.

“There were substantial increases in net worth in South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia, highlighting the broad improvement across Asia,” it said.

Wealth creation last year was most prevalent in Asia, with a UHNW population of almost 69,000, up 18.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for 27 percent of the world’s ultra wealthy population, the report said.

The total net worth of these people reached nearly $8.37 trillion last year, a growth rate of 26.7 percent from 2016, it added.

The U.S. remained the country with the most UHNW individuals, with almost 79,600 people, accounting for 31 percent of UHNW population, the report said.