Hong Kong Now Has One Million Millionaires: Study

One in seven people in Hong Kong is a millionaire, according to a Citibank study, which says the city now has a million people who can claim the tag.

The number of millionaires saw a 15 percent jump last year, compared to the year before, said the bank which polled more than 4,000 locals.

The study also said that there are 68,000 people who own more than HK$10 million in assets, also up 15 percent from 2016. The bank has been conducting this yearly study for the last 15 years.

The head of Citibank's retail banking, Lawrence Lam, said the strong stock market was a key factor behind the growth in wealth last year.

"Last year the stock market grew by 30 percent and I think that is one of the major drivers why there is an increase in multi-millionaires," he said.

On average, these multi-millionaires own more than three properties. But if they were to buy another flat, a greater proportion now say they would look to buy overseas instead of Hong Kong.

In the past couple of years, the majority of these wealthy people expected local home prices to go down. But now there's an even split between those who think prices will fall and those who expect them to keep rising.