New millionaires help Asia overtake Europe in private wealth, says report

Asia Pacific is now world's second wealthiest region and will overtake North America this year, according to survey by Boston Consulting Group

New millionaires in China and India have helped propel the combined wealth of Asia Pacific's richest individuals past their peers in Europe, with the region's wealthiest predicted to become more affluent than millionaires in North America over the next 12 months. New "millionaire households" were also created more quickly in Asia Pacific than anywhere else, according to the Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) annual global wealth report, as the world's 17m households worth more than $1m (640,000) grew richer once again during 2014.

For the first time in the survey's 15-year history, the Asia Pacific region - which for the purposes of this report excludes Japan - overtook Europe to become the world's second wealthiest region, with $47tn in private wealth, up 29% on 2013. North America, where private wealth totals $50.8tn, remains the wealthiest region, but it will be surpassed next year when the wealth of Asia Pacific's so-called "high net worths" reaches $57tn, the survey predicts.