For the first time, the Asia-Pacific region has become home to the highest number of millionaires in the world, according to an annual global wealth report by Capgemini and Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management.
Asia-Pacific surpassed
North America in 2011 to have 3.37 million high-net-worth individuals
(HNWI), which the report defined as people with at least US$ 1 million
available for investment, excluding personal assets such as primary
homes, collectibles, and consumer durables.
North America was a close
second with 3.35 million HNWIs, although the region still led with the
highest amount of investable wealth at US $11.4 trillion, compared to
Asia-Pacific's US $10.7 trillion.
Despite the reshuffling,
investable wealth fell across all regions, except the Middle East, due
to HNWI investments in risky, less liquid assets amid high volatility in
global markets. The overall 1.7% decline was the first recorded since
the 2008 financial crisis. At 11 million, the worldwide number of HNWIs
only increased by 0.8%.
China accounted for about
half the increase of HWNIs in the Asia-Pacific, where the super-rich
increased 5.2% to 562,000 people—placing the country in fourth place
behind the U.S., Japan, and Germany. On the other hand, Hong Kong and
India were the worst-hit, falling 17.4% and 18%, respectively. Singapore
and South Korea also saw falling number of HNWIs.
The report cited rising
inflation, declining exports due to weakened European demand, and crises
such as Japan's earthquake in March last year as the key negative
factors impacting the region. It went on to say the region's growth will
"depend most heavily on whether China can engineer a soft landing, and
the mature economy of Japan can recover from a challenging 2011."
The 16th World Wealth
Report, which assessed economic activity in 2011, covered 71 countries
that account for more than 98% of gross national income.
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