India among countries that have most millionaires

Global private financial wealth grew by 1.9 per cent in 2011 to a total of $122.8 trillion. The increase was considerably weaker than in either 2009 or 2010, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

The modest growth in private wealth is being driven by rapidly developing economies in the "new world," not by the "old world" of traditional, mature ones, it says.

Let's take a look at countries that have most millionaires in the world.

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The United States

Number of millionaire households (2010): 5,263

Number of millionaire households (2011): 5,134

Global rank: 1

Private wealth in North America fell by 0.9 per cent in 2011 to $38 trillion. The ultra-high-net worth household segment was hit particularly hard, losing 2.4 per cent of its wealth.

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Japan

Number of millionaire households (2010): 1,640

Number of millionaire households (2011): 1,587

Global rank: 2

Private wealth in Japan fell by 2.0 per cent in 2011 to $17.8 trillion. The value of weallth held in equities fell by 7.6 per cent, while amounts held in bonds as well as in cash remained virtually flat.

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China

Number of millionaire households (2010): 1,239

Number of millionaire households (2011): 1,432

Global rank: 3

Private wealth in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) increased by 0.7 per cent in 2011 to $23.7 trillion, enabling the region to widen its gap with Japan as the third-wealthiest area globally.

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The United Kingdom

Number of millionaire households (2010): 411

Number of millionaire households (2011): 411

Global rank: 4

Although Western Europe did not suffer as much as North America, the euro debt crisis took its toll, and private wealth fell by 0.4 per cent to $33.5 trillion. The region remained second-wealthiest worldwide.

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Germany

Number of millionaire households (2010): 320

Number of millionaire households (2011): 345

Global rank: 5

The amount of Western European wealth invested in equities fell by a steep 7.1 per cent - owing to weak performance in Western European markets and continued asset reallocation.

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Switzerland

Number of millionaire households (2010): 317

Number of millionaire households (2011): 322

Global rank: 6

Equities lost a 2.1 percentage point share and constituted 28.5 per cent of Western European private financial wealth at the end of 2011.

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Italy

Number of millionaire households (2010): 274

Number of millionaire households (2011): 270

Global rank: 7

Extreme levels of both government and private debt, as well as the threat of bankruptcy faced by several European Union countries, led to double-digit stock-markets declines in some of the region's largest economies.

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Taiwan

Number of millionaire households (2010): 247

Number of millionaire households (2011): 246

Global rank: 8

The strongest growth in Asia-Pacific was in the higher wealth bands, with the share of the total wealth held by households with more than $1 million in wealth increasing to 48 per cent.

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Hong Kong

Number of millionaire households (2010): 209

Number of millionaire households (2011): 212

Global rank: 9

The amount of wealth in Asia-Pacific held in equities grew by 4.1 per cent, a far weaker performance than the average annual growth of 17.7 per cent witnessed over the past five years.

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France

Number of millionaire households (2010): 199

Number of millionaire households (2011): 200

Global rank: 10

Owing mainly to repatriations, offshore wealth declined by 2.2 per cent, reducing its share of total Western European private wealth to 7.6 per cent.

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Singapore

Number of millionaire households (2010): 165

Number of millionaire households (2011): 188

Global rank: 11

Despite relatively poor stock-market performance in many large Asia-Pacific countries, notably India and China, strong GDP growth driven primarlily by high levels of government and private consumption led to new wealth generation.

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Canada

Number of millionaire households (2010): 175

Number of millionaire households (2011): 185

Global rank: 12

North American wealth is expected to project to post a CAGR of 1.8 per cent over the next five years to reach $41.5 trillion by the end of 2016.

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India

Number of millionaire households (2010): 134

Number of millionaire households (2011): 162

Global rank: 13

The number of millionaire households in India jumped nearly 21 per cent to 162,000 in 2011 from 134,000 in 2010, according to global wealth report.

Ultra-high-net-worth households, those having more than $100 million (Rs 560 crore) in private financial wealth, in India increased 15.35 per cent to 278 in 2011 from 241 in 2010.

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The Netherlands

Number of millionaire households (2010): 157

Number of millionaire households (2011): 152

Global rank: 14

Despite ongoing client needs and interests, offshore wealth as an industry remains under intense and increasing pressure owing to greater regulatory scrutiny - particularly from tax authorities in the US and Western Europe.

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Spain

Number of millionaire households (2010): 147

Number of millionaire households (2011): 139

Global rank: 15

Regulatory tightening will mean that the amount of assets flowing to all offshore centres from investors in markets where tax regimes are becoming ever stricter will decline.

At the same time, client assets flowing offshore from the new world, especially countries with underdeveloped private-banking industries, will continue to grow.