Asia boasts the largest increase in billionaires’ wealth this year, with the fortunes of the region’s billionaires growing by 18.7 percent, but the US is still the world’s top billionaire country, a wealth survey conducted by UBS and Wealth-X showed yesterday.
The global billionaire population reached a record high of 2,325 this year with the addition of 155 to the list, a 7 percent increase from last year, the survey showed. Wealth-X is an intelligence firm based in Singapore.
The combined wealth of the world’s billionaires grew 12 percent to US$7.3 trillion, higher than the combined market capitalization of all the companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the survey found.
Europe is the region with the most billionaires at 775 and billionaire wealth at US$2.37 trillion, but Asia scores the largest billionaire wealth increase this year, as the fortune of the region’s super rich picked up 18.7 percent and the number of billionaires increased 10 percent from last year, the survey said.
The US maintained its position as the world’s top billionaire country with 571 billionaires this year, followed by China at 190, the UK at 130 and Germany at 123, according to the survey.
Taiwan has 29 residents with assets of US$1 billion or more, ranking 20th in the world and sixth in Asia in terms of number of billionaires, according to the survey.
Taipei hosts 21 billionaires with a net worth of US$43 billion, which puts the city in 18th place globally and eighth regionally in terms of the number of billionaires, the survey indicated.
The seven Asian cities ahead of Taipei, in descending order, are Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Mumbai, Tokyo, Shenzhen and Shanghai, it showed.
Additional reporting by CNA
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