This is where the rich people are
Asia's rich will almost certainly have a greater net worth than North America's by the end of 2015, a new study has found, as Asia clocked up more rich residents than any other region for a second year running.
Asia-Pacific has surpassed North America as home to the largest high net worth individual (HNWI) population, with a rise to 4.69 million in 2014, an 8.5 percent increase from a year earlier and one million more people than two years ago, according to the World Wealth Report from CapGemini and RBC Wealth Management.
Read More How many millionaires? Depends who's counting
Asia's HNWIs - individuals with investible assets of $1 million, excluding primary residences - held a total $15.8 trillion of assets in 2014, up 11.4 percent on-year, the report said, noting that North America had around $16.2 trillion in HNWI wealth.
"In the last five years, Asia has really been the driving force in terms of number of high net worth individuals," Claire Sauvanaud, vice president at CapGemini, told CNBC.
"And last year particularly, the segment of the ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) - those who have more than $30 million of investible assets - has grown in a very high proportion in Asia."
The number of UHNWIs in Asia grew by 14.3 percent and their wealth increased by 16.5 percent year-on-year in 2014, the report said. That compared with 6.9 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, for UHNWIs in the rest of the world.
Sauvanaud noted that the rich in five countries in Asia saw double-digit HNWI population growth: China, Indonesia, India, Taiwan and Thailand.
Read More Millionaire kids to inherit most of their parents' fortunes
Since 2006 Asia-Pacific has accounted for around 40 percent of the HNWI population and wealth created globally, the report said.
China's HNWI population grew 17.5 percent in 2014 and their wealth rose 19.3 percent, while India saw the largest percentage gains globally, with its HNWI population up 26.3 percent and their wealth rising 28.2 percent to $785 billion, the report said.
China and India together account for nearly 10 percent of total HNWI wealth globally, the report said.
"Asia-Pacific continues its tremendous run in wealth creation and doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon," said Barend Janssens, head, RBC Wealth Management for Asia. "Despite some recent economic issues, the region's wealth is expected to lead global growth."
-By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1
More From CNBC