Millionaires in Asia now control more wealth than their peers in North America, Europe and other regions.

The latest World Wealth Report from consulting group Capgemini found that Asian high net worth individuals (HNWIs, that is, people who have $1m or more in assets) saw their wealth increase almost 10% last year.

North America only saw growth of 2.3%, owing to poor equity market performances in the US and Canada.

The US has far and away the most millionaires with eight million HNWIs, as well as the most money, but China and Japan are just behind and are driving the Asian surge.

There were 1.8 million new HNWIs worldwide last year, and half of them could be found in the Asian-Pacific region.

This comes as China faces slowing economic growth that could end up with a hard landing and Japan's economy weakens.

Overall, there were 18.5 million HNWIs around the world in 2015, and these people control 47% of the world's wealth.

Not only that, they are growing their money at a faster rate than the rest of the population.

HNWIs saw their wealth increase 6.3% on average last year, with lower earners up just 4%.

Looking ahead, the outlook is positive for Asia's rich particularly.

Capgemini commented:

"If past growth rates hold, Asia-Pacific is likely to continue to be a dominant force over the next decade, representing two-fifths of the world's high net worth individual wealth, more than that of Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Afria combined."

The combined holdings of Asian millionaires could, the report predicts, rise to $100 trillion by 2025.