For the first time, the Asia-Pacific region has become home to the highest number of millionaires in the world, according to an annual global wealth report by Capgemini and Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management.

　　Asia-Pacific surpassed North America in 2011 to have 3.37 million high-net-worth individuals (HNWI), which the report defined as people with at least US$ 1 million available for investment, excluding personal assets such as primary homes, collectibles, and consumer durables.

　　North America was a close second with 3.35 million HNWIs, although the region still led with the highest amount of investablewealth at US $11.4 trillion, compared to Asia-Pacific's US $10.7 trillion.

　　Despite the reshuffling, investable wealth fell across all regions, except the Middle East, due to HNWI investments in risky, less liquid assets amid high volatilityin global markets. The overall 1.7% decline was the first recorded since the 2008 financial crisis. At 11 million, the worldwide number of HNWIs only increased by 0.8%.

　　China accounted for about half the increase of HWNIs in the Asia-Pacific, where the super-rich increased 5.2% to 562,000 people—placing the country in fourth place behind the U.S., Japan, and Germany. On the other hand, Hong Kong and India were the worst-hit, falling 17.4% and 18%, respectively. Singapore and South Korea also saw falling number of HNWIs.

　　The report citedrising inflation, declining exports due to weakened European demand, and crises such as Japan's earthquake in March last year as the key negative factors impacting the region. It went on to say the region's growth will "depend most heavily on whether China can engineer a soft landing, and the mature economy of Japan can recover from a challenging 2011."

　　The 16th World Wealth Report, which assessed economic activity in 2011, covered 71 countries that account for more than 98% of grossnational income.

　　快訊：這一報告涵蓋的百萬富翁指的是可投資資產超過100萬美元的人士，不包括主要居所、收藏品、消耗品與耐用消費品的價值。去年亞太區百萬富翁人數增長1.6%，成為全球百萬富翁人數最多的地區。中國大陸百萬富翁人數增長5.2%，至562000人。去年美國和加拿大百萬富翁人數達到335萬人，同比下降1.1%。