by Sebastian Smith Sebastian Smith – Thu Mar 10, 3:15 am ET
NEW YORK (AFP) – The number of billionaires in Asia's booming new economies has displaced Europe, coming second only to the United States, Forbes has said in its annual rich list.
So powerful is the Asian boom that even Europe's biggest billionaire factory -- Russia -- owes much of its wealth to demand from tiger economies looking for raw materials.
"China really set the tone this year," said Forbes senior editor Luisa Kroll. "Asia for the first time has more billionaires than Europe."
The billionaire surge saw an increase in China from 69 to 115, Hong Kong from 25 to 36, India from 49 to 55 and across the Asia-Pacific as a whole from 234 to 332.
That easily beats Europe's 300 billionaires, 101 of which are Russian, including 79 living in Moscow -- officially the world billionaire capital.
Kroll said the dynamics behind Asian success were booming stock markets and business-friendly governments.
European gains, led by Russia's commodities barons, were largely due to Asian appetite for raw materials, or luxury goods.
"It is much easier to get rich today if you go live in Shanghai. If I were 22 years old and an entrepreneur and maybe could speak Mandarin... I'd high-tail it there," Kroll said.
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Topic: Asia displaces Europe in billionaire count: Forbes (Read 515 times)