Millionaires across the world are richer than they were before the financial crisis, the latest sign that the wealthy have weathered the downturn far better than other groups.

Global wealth among individuals with $1m of investable assets, or more, rose to $42,700bn in 2010, up from the pre-crisis peak of $40,700bn in 2007, according to the Merrill Lynch Cap Gemini World Wealth Report. Rising equity markets and Asian growth helped expand the fortunes of the global elite, with the number of Asian millionaires exceeding that of Europe.

There were 3.3m millionaires in Asia-Pacific at the end of 2010, compared with 3.4m in the US and 3.1m in Europe, the report finds. There were 3m millionaires in both Europe and Asia at the end of 2009. Strong stock markets last year were a key driver of the gains, with global equities rising 18 per cent on average, according to the report.