Asia adds most to global billionaire list of 2,170

The number of billionaires worldwide has increased to 2,170 despite the current economic uncertainty and Asia has added a record 18 new billionaires in 2013, a new report says.

The `Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2013' saw the highest percentage rise in billionaire population in Asia (up 3.7 per cent from 2012) and total wealth (up 13 per cent), making it the fastest-growing region in terms of wealth creation.

Asia is "driving the tectonic shifts in wealth globally", the report says, adding that it would catch up with North America in five years.

The report, which looks at the global billionaire population from July 2012 to June 2013, has been jointly prepared by Wealth-X, a global wealth intelligence and prospecting company, and financial services major UBS.

The global billionaire population reached a record 2,170 individuals in 2013 while the average net worth of these billionaires stood at $3 billion, the report says.

The combined net worth of the billionaire population more than doubled from $3.1 trillion in 2009 to $6.5 trillion in 2013 - enough to fund the United States budget deficit until 2024, and greater than the GDP of every country except the United States and China.

And, despite the global economic slowdown since the 2009 financial crisis, 810 individuals became billionaires since then, the report points out.

Europe is home to most billionaires (766 individuals) while North America has the most billionaire wealth ($2,158 billion).

Around 60 per cent of billionaires are self-made, while 40 per cent inherited their wealth or grew their fortunes from inheritance, the study found.

Only 17 per cent of female billionaires are self-made, while 71 per cent inherited their fortunes.

The study also found that Asia has 44,505 ultra-high net worth individuals with a total wealth of $6,590 billion.

The report is based on a study of persons with a net worth of $30 million and above (including shares in public and private companies, residential and investment properties, art collections, planes, cash and other assets).