Mumbai: The number of people having a net worth exceeding $1 million  rose to 10.1 million in 2007, an estimated 0.15 per cent of the world's population, a wealth survey has found.

But that is still less than one-fifth of one per cent of the world's 6.7 billion people, says the survey conducted by Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini.

The number of millionaires in India grew by about 23 per cent even as the United States continued to top the millionaires list - one in every three millionaires in the world lives in America.

The millionaires club added 600,000 new members last year despite the growing credit crisis. Their combined wealth also rose by 9.4 per cent to $40.7 trillion, according to the survey.

The number of people worth over $30 million rose 8.8 per cent while their total wealth grew by 14.5 per cent.

India, China and Brazil, the three fast-growing economies, saw the biggest rises in the number of wealthy individuals, the report noted.

"The growth of their wealth is outpacing the growth of their population, and that's a trend that's going to continue in coming years,'' Ileana Van Der Linde, an official of Capgemini, said.

"The growth of their wealth is outpacing the growth of their population, and that's a trend that's going to continue in coming years,'' she added.

With robust performance by emerging economies, the report expects the wealth of the world's richest people to total $59.1 trillion by 2012, an average annual growth rate of 7.7 per cent.

Wealthiest Regionwise:

North America - $11.7 trillion
Europe - $10.6 trillion
Asia Pacific - $9.5 trillion
Latin America - $6.2 trillion
Middle East - $1.7 trillion
Africa - $1 trillion

(Source: The World Wealth Report)