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The number of millionaires in Israel rose in 2010 by more than 20.6 percent to 10,153, who,together own more than $52 billion in liquid funds, up from $43 billion theprevious year, according to the latest annual Merrill Lynch-Capgemini World Wealth Report released on Wednesday.
The climb wasin line with the global trend, which rose by 8.3 percent, hitting an all-time high of 10.9 million people in the world who are considered to be millionaires by the report's standards.
According to the report, the ranks of millionaires in Asia for the first time surpassed Europe and in a few years are expected to overtake the United States.
Powered by fast-growing China and India, the Asia-Pacific region's millionaire ranks rose10 percent to 3.3 million, second only to the 3.4 million residing in North America and inching ahead of Europe, which had 3.1 million.