I want to say I am surprised to find this out, but given the asset prices and the growth of Singapore's economy, I wouldn't say it is too surprising. What I found surprising was that about 15% of Singapore's households are millionaires. This means that if you walk past 10 families down Orchard Road, at least one of them should be a millionaire. OK, maybe the rich people don't hang out at Orchard Road, but you know what I mean.
What is even more suprising is that the 2nd ranked country, Switzerland, is a huge distance away from Singapore, with "only" 9.9% of its households being millionaires.
The funny thing is, the people in Singapore don't think of this as a big deal. In fact, some of them see this as a huge problem:
However, Singapore’s median household income remains at a modest $5,700 per month, according to the Department of Statistics. This starkly illustrates a growing income gap, one of the biggest problems facing the country today. Singapore already has the second-highest Gini co-efficient in the developed world, behind only Hong Kong. The Gini co-efficient is a measure of income disparity, and it is indeed alarming that income is distributed more unequally in our country than even India or China.Read the full article here.
Another problem that comes with having a “wealthy population” is a high cost of living. In a 2010 survey of 214 cities by consulting firm Mercer, Singapore ranked as the 11th most expensive city in the world for expatriates, on a par with Oslo and more expensive than New York.
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