More billionaires are European

Europe's 775 billionaires held assets worth $2.375 trillion (1.832 trillion euros) in 2014, according to a report published Wednesday by the Singaporean research firm Wealth-X and the Swiss bank UBS.

It marked the first time that more wealth had been acquired in Europe than in North America, where 609 billionaires were valued at around $2.371 trillion. However, the United States is still home to more billionaires than any other single country, followed by China, Britain and Germany.

Europe overtook North America to occupy the top spot on the rankings list, while Asia came in third in terms of the total number of billionaires and the value of assets held. Asia's wealthiest class, however, saw the sharpest increase in its riches at 18.7 percent, the report said.

Asia has added 52 new billionaires so far this year in US dollar terms, bringing the region's total to 560. China leads the pack with 190, followed by India (100), Hong Kong (82), Japan (33) and Singapore (32).

"The rise of Asia as a global economic powerhouse has already started, and the performance of the region's billionaires illustrates just how strong the region is and how many opportunities for wealth accumulation it offers," the report stated.

Globally, billionaire wealth jumped 12 percent to $7.3 trillion in July 2014 - a sum that exceeds the combined market value of the 30 major US firms on the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock index, including Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Microsoft.

The average billionaire is a 63-year-old man with $3.1 billion to his name, the report noted. One in eight billionaires is female.

sri/cjc (dpa, afp)