How China's millionaire crowd stacks up against America's, in wealth, spending, and how they made their fortunes

While China and the US are comparable in nominal GDP, there are far more wealthy individuals in America than in China.

China — with a population of 1.4 billion — has 780,000 people holding assets worth $1 million or more, while the US — with a population of 332 million — has 5.27 million people in the same category.

That data came from a wealth report by the consultancy Henley & Partners, published in 2023.

"America is in a league of its own, with three times the total wealth of China and seven times as many dollar millionaires," the report said.

The US has 9,630 centimillionaires, or people with a net worth of $100 million or higher, and 770 billionaires, according to the firm.

Meanwhile, China has 2,250 centimillionaires and 285 billionaires.

The main US industries for creating high-net-worth individuals were finance, professional services, and tech industry, according to Henley & Partners.

At least 28% of America's wealthy made their money from banks, hedge funds, and investing, while another 14% worked in tech, per the report. Media and real estate trail at 8% each.

China's sector split for making millionaires is roughly the same as America's, except for one key difference, an expert told Insider.

Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, which helped with the Henley & Partners report, told Insider that 15% of China's millionaires come from manufacturing.

In the US, the figure is 4%, Amoils said.

Manufacturing accounted for close to a third of China's GDP from 2004 to 2021, per the latest World Bank data. Meanwhile, the US manufacturing sector accounted for between 10.5% to 13% of the country's GDP in the same time frame.

Amoils also noted that around 30% of China's high-net-worth individuals were entrepreneurs, while they only account for 15% of the US wealthy.

In 2000, China had just 80,000 high-net-worth individuals, Amoils said.

But that demographic surged to 350,000 people in 2010, with especially strong growth in the years before the 2008 financial crisis, he said.

As of 2022, China had 780,000 high-net-worth individuals, almost ten times the number it had two decades back.

The US high-net-worth population grew too, but slower: it tripled in size in the same decades.

America had 1.7 million high-net-worth individuals in 2000, growing to 3.2 million in 2010, Amoils said.

One notable habit among China's millionaires is that they tend not to spend as much on classic cars and art, despite their popularity among America's rich, Amoils said.

Instead, for the Chinese, "top-end watch brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Breguet are very popular among high-net-worth individuals," he said.

China's luxury fashion market saw a five-year run of exponential growth until 2022, when it contracted 10% amid Beijing's controversial zero-COVID push, according to Bain & Company.

Chinese consumers spent more than $60 billion on luxury items in 2022, Bain said, though the value of watch purchases there fell an estimated 20% to 25% year-on-year.

Wealthy people in both countries also like to golf, but cycling — a common sport among America's wealthy — hasn't caught on in China, Amoils said.

Many of America's millionaires have started leaving the country in the last year, seeking "greener pastures for investment and business growth" per Henley & Partners.

They were said to harbor concerns over safety, political tensions, and the US economy, according to the consultancy.

These departures reduced the US net movement of millionaires into the US to just 1,500 people in 2022, down 86% from an annual peak of 10,800 people between 2013 and 2019, per Henley & Partneres.

China's millionaire population has taken an even bigger hit.

In 2019, its millionaire crowd got smaller, Henley & Partners said, with a net outflow of 16,000 high-net-worth individuals, 2% of the total.

In 2022, it also bled millionaires, with a net outflow of 10,800, per the consultancy.

Many Chinese millionaires are fleeing sweeping financial regulations and an aggressive push by President Xi Jinping for the rich to share their wealth.

They are moving to Canada, Australia, Singapore, the EU, and the US, Amoils said.

Hundreds of wealthy families left the country after Beijing's 20th party congress in October, when Xi solidified his power by appointing his loyalists in all of the government's top positions.

A representative for Henley & Partners told Insider that since December, the firm has received a 500% increase in the number of Chinese people asking for advice moving their wealth overseas.

Millionaires from both the US and China are considering visa programs in Europe, as well as Caribbean nations such as Grenada and St. Kitts and Nevis, Henley & Partners wrote in its report.

While Spanish and Italian programs are gaining traction among Americans, China's wealthy are asking about residency or citizenship in Singapore and Portugal, according to the firm.