The wealth of Asian entrepreneurs has grown at three times the rate of that produced by the UK economy as a whole over the last seven years, Barclays has revealed.
A new report from Barclays Business Banking which analysed the wealth of the UK’s 200 richest Asians between 1998 and 2005 shows that real Asian wealth increased by 69% compared to the overall UK GDP growth figure of 22.8%.
The report highlighted a shift by business owners from traditional industries such as textiles and manufacturing toward higher value industrial sectors such as pharmaceuticals, IT and media.
This ability of Asian entrepreneurs to adapt to new business opportunities was the sector’s reason for its sustained growth, Barclays said.
For example, Barclays reports that the pharmaceutical industry is now the largest source of Asian wealth in the UK, up 50-fold (an increase of £1.5bn) between 1998 and 2005, in the context of a static UK pharmaceuticals sector.
As a result of this shift, the entry level for joining the top 200 Asian wealth creators has more than doubled from £2m in 1998 to £5m last year, the report found, while the top 10% now account for almost as much wealth as the combined total of the top 200 businesses in 1998.
“Asian wealth is now built on a much broader base of entrepreneurs who are challenging traditional stereotypes and making serious money in hi-tech industries,” said Satish Kanabar, corporate director at Barclays Business Banking.
“As a result, Asian wealth creation is more important than its headline contribution to overall economic growth would indicate Asian entrepreneurs are actually in the vanguard of the UK’s emerging high-tech, service economy.”
The study also found that less than 1% of wealth was generated by non-business activities, suggesting that little wealth was inherited, and wealth generated by Asian women within the top 200 has more than quadrupled between 1998 and 2005, while the number of women listed within their own right double over the same period.
