Millionaires club grows and members get richer

The world’s millionaires club is getting bigger -- and its members decidedly richer.

The number of people around the globe with at least $1 million in assets swelled by 6% last year to 10.1 million, according to the 12th annual World Wealth Report released Tuesday by Merrill Lynch & Co. and Capgemini Group, a consulting firm.

That means an additional 600,000 people became millionaires or richer even as problems tied to the U.S. credit crisis spread in the second half of the year.

The combined wealth of the millionaires’ club meanwhile grew 9.4% to $40.7 trillion. Their average wealth, which didn’t include primary homes, surpassed $4 million for the first time.

The super rich -- those with at least $30 million -- grew by 8.8% in population while their accumulated wealth grew by 14.5%. This rarefied group controls about a third of the $40.7-trillion.

For such an elite club, 10.1 million may seem like a lot of members. But the figure represents just 0.15% of the world’s population of 6.7 billion.

When taking into account inflation and the expansion of the world economy, the growth in the number of people with at least $1 million is not surprising, said Brian Bethune, an economist with Global Insight.

An increase of around 15% to 20% would mark an unexpected jump, he said.

One million dollars in 1996, when the report was first issued, would be worth about $1.3 million in 2007, said Ileana Van Der Linde, a principal with Capgemini.

The 6% growth in the number of wealthy individuals -- while down from last year’s growth of 8.3% -- is nevertheless significant, she said.

India, China and Brazil saw the biggest growth rates in the number of wealthy individuals (22.7%, 20.3%, 19.1%, respectively). The U.S., Japan and Germany still had the highest number of wealthy people, however. The U.S. is home to about a third of those with at least $1 million.