North America No Longer Home to Most Millionaires

By Kate Schwartz, Newser Staff

North America may have retaken one crown from Asia Monday, but it was forced to relinquish another today: The latter is now officially home to the most millionaires in the world, according to a new report by Capgemini.

Its 3.37 million millionaires, a boost of 1.6% over 2010, now outnumber North America's 3.35 million, down 1.1%. The report considers a millionaire to be someone with at least $1 million to invest, and doesn't factor in an individual's home or collectibles, among other assets, reports Reuters.

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Other interesting tidbits:

• Though the number of millionaires worldwide jumped 0.8% to 11 million, their total wealth dropped 1.7% to $42 trillion thanks to the eurozone mess and overall dour economic state of affairs.
• The only region that didn't see a dip in wealth? The Middle East.
• The countries that lost the most millionaires? India, down 18%, and Hong Kong, down 17.4%.
• The big surprise? Europe's millionaire ranks grew, up 1.1% to 3.2 million.

--Written by Kate Schwartz of Newser