The number of millionaires in the world increased by 8.3 percent in 2006, with about 9.5 million individuals now estimated to have more than a million dollars in financial assets, a report said Wednesday.

The survey by financial services group Capgemini and US investment bank Merrill Lynch said strong global economic growth and gains on the stock market(1) explained the expansion of the exclusive club of "High Net Worth Individuals" (HNWIs)(2).

The financial assets owned by the group totalled 37.2 trillion dollars, an increase of 11.4 percent from 2005, with Singapore, India, Indonesia and Russia producing the greatest number of new millionaires.

"Real GDP(3) and market capitalization(4) growth rates, two primary drivers of wealth generation, accelerated throughout 2006, which helped to increase the total number of HNWIs around the world as well as the amount of wealth they control," the report said.

The number of Ultra-HNWIs -- individuals with financial assets exceeding 30 million dollars -- increased by 11.3 percent in 2006, with the global population of this extremely affluent(5) group now estimated at 94,970 people.

The financial assets of Ultra-HNWIs increased by 16.8 percent compared with 2005, the report said, illustrating a trend whereby wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of the already wealthy, the report said.

"Global wealth continued to consolidate(6) in 2006, a trend we have reported for the past 11 years," the report said.

Capgemini and Merrill Lynch define a millionaire as someone with more than one million dollars in financial assets such as cash, equities(7), bonds(8) or funds.

They do not include the value of an individual's primary residence or private collections of objects such as art, antiques or coins.

1. stock market：股市

2. HNWIs：报告将富人分为三类——一般富人（Mass High Net Worth Individuals），即个人金融资产在100万美元以上、500万美元以下者；中级富人（Mid-Tier Millionaires，MTM），即个人金融资产在500万美元到3000万美元之间者；超级富人（Ultra-HNWIs），即个人金融资产在3000万美元以上者。