How Many Filipinos Have One Million Dollars?
It is no secret that the Philippines is a third world country. Needless to say, we really cannot say that we lack any resources if we’re judging by the amount of rich families and individuals in the country.
The problem, however, is that of the distribution of wealth and a recent report from Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Databook 2016 proves the imbalance.
Their enterprises are worth hundreds of millions, if not millions. But just let’s downscale a bit to those that only have a million dollars or around 50 million pesos to their name as the date is enough to showcase the range in financial difference among Filipinos.
According to the 2016 Databook from Credit Suisse, the Filipino dollar millionaires account for only 0.06 percent of around 60 million Filipino adults who are 20-year-old or more. In numbers, that is almost 39,000 in the Filipino adult demographics have $1 million and above.
This proportion of Filipino dollar millionaires is significantly smaller compared to the regional or global average. For example, the Asia-Pacific region has 0.52 percent of 1.2 billion adults are millionaires. In the global scale, a higher 0.68 percent makes up the billionaires out of the 4.8 billion adults around the world. These findings suggest that the wealth inequality is worse in the Philippines than in most other places.
Localizing the results in South East Asia, the ratio does not differ much compared to our neighbors in Thailand and Indonesia who has 0.06 percent and 0.07 percent of adult population are millionaires, respectively.
In terms of industries, development and construction prove to be the biggest cash cow for businessmen, Forbes cited. 2016 saw the 200% emergence of Edgar Sia II’s DoubleDragon Properties with partner Tony Tan Caktiong. The duo went public in 2014 and since then have invested in multiple mall and residential properties.
Right now, it appears that the infrastructure business has no signs of stopping especially with President Rodrigo Duterte’s plans of investing in the so-called “golden age of infrastructure” could only propel the field further in the years ahead. – ALD
(Source: FilipinoTimes.ae)