The ability of Asian entrepreneurs to adapt to new business opportunities has seen the sector’s wealth grow at three times the rate of that produced by the UK economy as a whole according to a report released today by Barclays Business Banking. The study, which analysed the wealth of the UK’s 200 richest Asians between 1998 and 2005, reveals that real Asian wealth increased by 69 per cent compared to the overall UK GDP growth figure of 22.8 per cent with a noticeable shift by business owners towards higher value industrial sectors such as pharmaceuticals, IT and media.

As a consequence, the entry level for joining the top 200 Asian wealth creators has more than doubled from £2 million in 1998 to £5 million in 2005. Underlining the extent of growth in the sector, the top 10 per cent now account for almost as much wealth as the combined total of the top 200 businesses in 1998.

The report, “Asian Entrepreneurs in the UK” written for Barclays by Dr Spinder Dhaliwal, a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Surrey University and a leading authority on the UK’s Asian economy, highlights a significant shift in Asian wealth creation away from traditional industries such as textiles and manufacturing towards new hi-tech and service sectors.

In a sign that the Asian economy seems able to adapt to a post-industrial era, wealth creation in new economy sectors such as IT, media and the Internet increased by over £690 million in the eight years to 2005, compared to, for example, the textiles sector which showed no real growth over the same period. The pharmaceuticals industry is now the largest source of Asian wealth in the UK, up 50-fold (an increase of £1.5 billion) between 1998-2005, in the context of a static UK pharmaceuticals sector. Meanwhile, Asian businesses more than trebled wealth creation in the service-orientated hotels sector.

Satish Kanabar, Corporate Director Barclays Business Banking, said “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. 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:

• Asian wealth creation is no longer reliant on the performance of a handful of Asian entrepreneurs. Since 1998 the top 10 per cent of Asian wealth creators have accounted for a diminishing proportion of total wealth generated; whilst almost two-thirds of Asian wealth was generated by the top 20 performers in 1998 by 2005 this proportion had fallen to 30 per cent.
• Less than one per cent of wealth was generated by non-business activities indicating that little wealth was inherited.
• Wealth generated by Asian women within the top 200 more than quadrupled between 1998 and 2005, with the number of women listed within their own right doubling within the same period.

The report, Asian Entrepreneurs in the UK, was produced for Barclays by Dr Spinder Dhaliwal, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Surrey University and Editor of “Britain’s Richest Asians”. The data was compiled by identifying the top 200 UK Asian business people and is based on the reported wealth of these individuals between 1998 and 2005.