Asia has overtaken United States of America by having the highest number of billionaires for the first time in history. According to an annual report by Union Bank of Switzerland (USB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Asia now has the most billionaires in the world with new billionaires being minted every other day in 2016.
117 people broke past the billion dollar mark in 2016, bringing the total of the most populous continent to 637 billionaires. After a decline in 2015, the combined wealth of the world’s billionaire increased by 17% to $6 trillion in 2016. Although American billionaires still control most of the wealth, Asian billionaires wealth, led by China, rose at a faster pace than global counterparts.
The analysis of data from roughly 1,550 billionaires also suggests if the rise in wealth continues, Asia can even overtake USA as the world’s largest concentration of wealth in four years. USB report further states, “A combination of geopolitical stability in Greater China, rising Chinese real estate prices, infrastructure spending, the growing middle class and buoyant commodity prices all joined together to boost wealth.”
At a press conference, UBS’ Chief Investment Officer, Mark Haefele said, “How fast billionaire wealth grows in Asia will depend in part on how state driven investment in China is replaced with other sources of capital.” China and India contributed to three quarters of the world’s new billionaires while US added only 25 billionaires for a total of 563. Meanwhile, the number of billionaires in Europe remained at 342.
Overall, the world’s 500 richest people have recorded an increase of 19% in their wealth, adding $ 824 billion to the total. The net worth of the world’s richest people combined is estimated at $ 5.2 trillion as of 25 October 2017.