It’s good to be a millionaire. They control 39 percent of the world’s wealth, according to Boston Consulting Group.
“Millionaire households represented just 0.9 percent of all households but owned 39 percent of global wealth, up from 37 percent in 2009. The number of millionaire households increased by 12.2 percent in 2010 to about 12.5 million,” the firm says in a statement.
The group defines a millionaire as someone with $1 million or more in investible assets, excluding homes, luxury goods and ownership in one’s own company.
The United States continues to lead the world in millionaires, with 5.2 million millionaire households, followed by Japan with 1.5 million millionaire households, China with 1.1 million and the United Kingdom with 570,000, according to report figures as published by The Wall Street Journal.
Millionaires control 29 percent of North America’s wealth and 38 percent of the wealth in the Middle East and Africa.
Singapore leads the world in what is known as millionaire density, or the percentage of millionaires, with 15.5 percent of its population now millionaire households.
“2010 was a damn good year for global wealth,” says Monish Kumar, senior partner and global leader of Asset and Wealth Management at BCG, according to Forbes.
“Global wealth is at an all time-high.”
The United States is also home to the largest number of ultra-high-net-worth households, defined as those with more than $100 million in assets under management, with 2,692 fitting into that category.
China saw the fastest growth in the number of super-wealthy households, which jumped by more than 30 percent to 393.
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