Asia-Pacific (APAC) is now home to the highest number of millionaires in the world, overtaking a declining North America.
According to the RBC and Capgemini 2012 World Wealth Report (WWR), 3.37m high net worth individuals (HNWIs) live in APAC, 20,000 more than in North America and a 1.6% increase on 2010.
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North America is also the only area of the world where the number of millionaires decreased (-1.1%).
The ranks of HNWIs rose by 0.8% globally led by the Latin America (+5.4) and Africa (+3.9%).
Most of this growth can be attributed to HNWIs in the $1-5m wealth band, which grew 1.1% and represents 90% of the global HNWI population.
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By GlobalDataMore millionaires less millions
The increase in new millionaires was not followed by a growth in global wealth, the first time this has occurred in the 16 years the survey has run.
Total investable wealth dropped 1.7% to $42trn, marking a $700bn loss.
Despite the fall in the number of HNWIs, North America remains the wealthiest region in terms of total assets value with $11.4trn (-2.3% on 2010), APAC was close behind with $10.7trn (-1.1% on 2010) and Europe recorded $10.1trn (-1.1% on 2010).
The contraction was equally distributed across the globe with only the Middle East experiencing a growth (0.7%), reported RBC, which sponsored the WWR for the first time after taking it over from Merrill Lynch earlier this year.
According to RBC the drop in global wealth was in large part to do with the losses experienced by ultra-HNWIs – those with at least $30m in investable assets.
The research found the global population of UHNWIs declined by 2.5% and their wealth dropped by 4.9% after having gained 11.5% in 2010.
UHNWIs had more money invested in higher-risk or less-liquid assets such as hedge funds, private equity or commercial real estate, which were badly affected by the high volatility markets experienced in 2011.
Ireland beats India and Hong Kong
Surprisingly, the country which saw the greatest increase in its millionaire population was Ireland.
The number of HNWIs in Ireland grew 16.8%, showing signs of recovery, since Irish wealth was badly affected by the financial crisis and the country was bailed out in 2010.
On the other hand India and Hong Kong featured among the countries which witnessed the sharpest loss in HNWIs ranks.
The slump in Indian equity market capitalisation, the falling rupee value, and investors growing concerns in the countrys political and domestic reform process, contributed in reducing number of Indian millionaires by 18%, pushing it out of the top 12 HNW nations.
Indias place was taken by South Korea.
Similarly the drop in stock market capitalization (-16.7%) resulted in Hong Kongs millionaire population shrinking by 17.4%.
The bulk of the global HNW population remains concentrated in the US, Japan and Germany which together are home to 53% of the worlds millionaires.
