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Report: Asia leads world in making billionaires

By Darryl Coote

March 6 (UPI) -- Asia is forecast to experience the fastest growing billionaire population in the world over the next four years, according to a new study.

In four years' time, Asia is expected to be home to more than 1,000 billionaires, accounting for over a third of the 2,696 billionaires on the planet, according to Knight Frank LLP's 2019 The Wealth Report published Wednesday.

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Asia will also experience the largest growth in millionaires with $30 million or more in assists, with India leading the charge with an expected growth of 39 percent over that timespan.

The Philippines is projected to see its ultra-rich population grow by 38 percent and China was third with 35 percent, the report said.

Kenya is expected to take the lead for Africa with a 24 percent projected growth in its population of the super-rich, while Brazil's population is expected to be South America's largest with 3,962 individuals with $30 million or more but it won't reach its 2014 high despite it exiting a recession.

The report also said that some 42,711 people will be entering this ultra-rich club that is seemingly becoming less and less exclusive at 250,000 members worldwide. This is an increase of 22 percent over the next five years.

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In 2018 alone, the number of ultra-rich grew by 7,091, it said.

"Equity markets, real estate markets and luxury investments all had a stellar year in 2017. Growth in 2018 has been good in some cases, but has not replicated the levels seen in 2017, and the outlook reflects more mixed conditions ahead," Oliver Williams, head of GlobalData WealthInsight, said in a statement.

Despite this cautious outlook, the number of millionaires the world over is expected to surpass the 20-million mark this year, it said, citing GlobalData WealthInsight.

Of all those millionaires, 6.6 million will reside in North America, 5.9 million will be in Europe and 5.8 million will be in Asia.

Williams attributes this growth to the connection between entrepreneurialism and the creation of wealth.

"The ease with which a business can be created affects the number of wealthy entrepreneurs in a country and also the spread of wealth," he said.

The ongoing trade war between the United States and China will impact these numbers, Eurasia Group founder Ian Bremmer said in the report, but the effects might be more muted than expected.

He said that the trade spat between the two countries draws "outsized attention," especially as there will probably be many conflicts between the two parties, particularly over technology.

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"But against the backdrop of a softer economy, both leaders are looking for excuses to avoid further trade escalation. We won't see an all-out 'trade war' in 2019," he said.

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