PETALING JAYA: As expected, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on wealth.

While the world continues to see an increase in the number of rich individuals, the quantum of increase fell last year, compared with previous years.

However, Malaysia is bucking the global and even Asia-Pacific trends, with more people exiting the rich list.

According to the latest report by Knight Frank, a real estate agency and residential and commercial property consultancy based in London, the number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) in Malaysia dropped by 8%, from 17,936 in 2019 to 16,442 in 2020.

In the same period, the number of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) declined by 3%, from 626 in 2019 to 606 last year.

The report defines a HNWI as one with a net worth of at least US$1 million (RM4.26 million) while a UHNWI is one with a net worth of at least US$30 million (RM127.8 million).

Sunway University Business School Professor of Economics Dr Yeah Kim Leng said the decline in the number of rich people is inevitable given the overall 5.6% drop in the nation’s real income. “The HNWIs, who built their fortunes through hotels and restaurants, aviation, leisure, tourism, hospitality and retail, would have experienced significant losses in business income and asset values,” Yeah told theSun.