Last year, for the first time ever, Asia had more millionaires than North America, according to a new study. According to the World Wealth Report from Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management, North America’s millionaire population declined slightly to 3.4 million in 2011 while Asia’s grew by 1.6 percent, giving them slightly more than 3.4 million.
Globally, there are now about 11 million individuals with investible assets of $1 million or more (not including their primary residence).
Granted, on a country-by-country basis, the United States still rules the world when it comes to wealthy individuals. Last year the country was home to 3.067 million millionaires. And North America as a whole still had more total wealth held by millionaires: $11.4 trillion compared to Asia’s $10.7 trillion. RBC defines Asia as China, Japan, India and more than a dozen other countries.
Yet Asia’s millionaire growth is part of a larger transformation of the world’s wealth. Europe and the United States are becoming Old Money. Asia is the New Money.
The New New Money, meanwhile, is in Latin America, Africa and other millionaire frontiers. The population of millionaires grew by 2.7 percent in the Middle East and 3.9 percent in Africa. Latin America posted the strongest millionaire growth at 5.4 percent, though it still has only 500,000 millionaires.
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