Add an extra zero to the ranks of the millionaires club.
The number of people around the world with at least $1 million in assets passed 10 million for the first time last year, according to a new report. And their bank accounts are growing even faster.
The combined wealth of the globe’s millionaires grew to nearly $41 trillion last year, an increase of 9 percent from a year before, Merrill Lynch & Co. and consulting firm Capgemini Group said Tuesday.
That means their average wealth was more than $4 million, the highest it’s ever been. Home values were not included in asset totals.
“The growth of their wealth is outpacing the growth of their population, and that’s a trend that’s going to continue in coming years,” said Ileana Van Der Linde, a principal with Capgemini.
The ranks of the wealthy are growing fastest in the developing economies of India, China and Brazil. The number of millionaires in India grew by about 23 percent.
The United States still reigns supreme when it comes to fat wallets, though: One in every three millionaires in the world lives in America. Combined, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America account for just one in 10.
All told, there were about 600,000 more millionaires in the world in 2007 than in 2006, for a total of about 10.1 million. That’s a 6 percent increase from the previous year.
Photo by flickr.com.
World Now Has 10 Million Millionaires
September 10, 2008 by Rich | 3 Comments
In Entrepreneurs, Money, Success
Curt on September 10th, 2008 at 7:13 am
This is very interesting. The implication is that Central Banks are printing money faster and faster - resulting in all currencies are losing value. This corresponds to the large increase in inflation around the world. Central Banks need to stop increasing their money supply or the entire world will find itself in hyperinflation.
cassy on September 10th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
wow! really so interesting…
Can this millionaires can help to those less fortunate people?
mathias on September 11th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Everyday there are new millionaires and that’s true as around me I know a few of them who started from nothing…I even have one of my customer that was a 17 years old student in 1996 and who now operates a very nice and profitable business that is curently making him a millionaire ! So I believe this report, especially in fast growing countries where people start to be big consumers (India, China,..)