Asian rich outnumber Europeans

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Asia had more millionaires than Europe for the first time last year and is fast closing in on North America for the top spot, a report released this week said.
The Asia-Pacific region was home to 3.3 million people last year worth US$1 million ($1.2 million) or more, excluding their homes, an increase of roughly 10 per cent from the year before, according to an annual report by Merrill Lynch's wealth management division and consultancy Capgemini.
Asia's growth outpaced Europe, which grew about 6 per cent to 3.1 million high net worth individuals, and puts it within reach of North America, which rose 8.6 per cent to 3.4 million.
The report's findings illustrate how Asia's economies, powered by China and India, are growing much more quickly than developed countries.
The United States, Japan and Germany account for just over half the world's 10.9 million wealthy, while China is fourth with 535,000. Australia has moved up one to ninth place and India has cracked the top 12 for the first time.
As well, last year was the second year that Asia's combined wealth was bigger than Europe's.
The world's wealthy were worth US$42.7 trillion last year. Asia's share amounted to US$10.8 trillion, putting it just behind North America's US$11.6 trillion.



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