Five key trends you need to know about the global luxury wealthscape over the coming year

Earlier this year, Amrita Banta, Managing Director at Agility Research & Strategy, joined us at the Walpole British Luxury Summit to share her expertise in navigating the new global wealthscape with our guests. This insight was based on data from Agility Research & Strategy's TrendLens™ 2024 Global Millionaire study. Published in March 2024, the trend forecaster interviewed over 750 HNWIs across China, Japan, India, USA and the United Kingdom across genders and ages, offering a global outlook on this key segment. The total number of HNWIs globally interviewed for this study is over 3,000, making it one of the most comprehensive studies on global millionaires.

The full report is available on subscription (there are details about how you can access this below), but here are five key takeaways from the report, as revealed at the Summit, that every high-end British brand should know about global luxury as we move through 2024:

Despite varying economic policies, the number of millionaires globally is set to increase significantly by 2027, with China leading at a growth rate of 112%, underscoring the resilience and expansion of global wealth.

High-net-worth individuals across major markets like the USA, China, UK, Japan, and India are optimistic about their future income and investment values, with a notable percentage expecting an increase in 2024. However, the state of the economy is impacting consumers differently, for example, optimism is much higher than pre-Covid levels for India, Japan and US and Chinese HNWIs remain cautious, meaning their overall optimism is still much lower than pre-Covid levels.

High-net-worth consumers are planning to increase spending across key luxury categories, with particular emphasis on hotels, airline tickets, and fashion clothing, as revealed in their intended purchasing behaviours over the next six months. Particularly notably, Chinese HNWIs will spend more on leisure travel vs. luxury products in next 12 months.

A significant share of millionaires in key markets value being members of luxury VIP programs, highlighting the importance of tailored information, exclusive offers, and personal connections to luxury brands. Across the China, US, India, Japan and the UK, getting priority access to events is mentioned as one of the most valuable benefits from a luxury brand VIC program. In particular, access to masterclass events where experts share their knowledge to these VICs are seen as most attractive, followed by special dinners and private shopping/wine and spirits tasting sessions.

High-net-worth individuals show a strong preference for international travel, with notable destinations for luxury shopping including Europe, France, and the USA. Out of the five markets surveyed, India and China show the highest percentage of luxury shopping done internationally, consolidating the last few years trend which saw Chinese and Indian HNWIs combining travel with luxury shopping.

agility-research.com

> Photos by Philipp Ammon