The ranks of the world’s millionaires shrank at the fastest rate in 2008, with North America suffering the biggest wealth loss worldwide, according to a survey by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch & Co.

The global slump in property and equity markets last year cut the number of millionaires by 15 percent to 8.6 million, wiping out two years of increases, the firms said in their 13th annual World Wealth Report published today.

The value of the world’s millionaires’ assets slid 20 percent to $32.8 trillion, after a 9.4 percent increase the previous year, the survey said […]

The number of people in the ultra-high net worth category, those with more than $30 million to invest, not including the value of their homes or consumable goods, fell 25 percent.

This was because they had a greater proportion of their assets tied up in equities, hedge funds and private equity, Merrill Lynch said.

The U.S. is home to the most millionaires with more than 2.5 million, the report said. China overtook the U.K. with the fourth most millionaires after the U.S., Japan and Germany.

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