THE number of Australian millionaires is growing at a faster pace than the rest of the world, helped by a buoyant share market.

An annual wealth report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini says the number of Australians with financial assets of more than $1 million grew by 10.3 per cent in 2006 to 160,600 people on the back of a robust share market. The number of high-net work individuals in the world jumped 8.3 per cent in 2006 to 9.5 million people.

"For the first time, Australia has joined the ranks of the world's Top 10 countries in terms of total HNWI numbers," says Merrill Lynch, head of global private clients Australia Nick Kalikajaros.

"The steady growth in the size and scale of the Australian market represents tremendous opportunities for wealth management firms, especially those that can adapt their service model to the needs of an increasingly sophisticated client segment."

The wealth of the world's high-net worth individuals (HNWIs) increased 11.4 per cent to $US37.2 trillion in 2006.

The number of HNWIs in the world increased 8.3 per cent in 2006 to 9.5 million and the number of ultra high-net worth individuals grew by 11.3 per cent to 94,970.

Emerging economies proved resilient, with continued growth in their HNWI populations and solid investor cash flow to riskier corners of the market.

The largest growth of the HNWI population was in Singapore and India, where increases for 2005 were 21.2 and 20.5 per cent respectively. The report suggests economic growth will slow in 2007 as mature economies grow more moderately.

Real GDP and market capitalisation growth rates - the two primary drivers of wealth generation - accelerated in 2006 to help increase the total number of HNWIs around the world, as well as the amount of wealth they control.

The realisation of economic gains on par with those of 2003 and 2004 was led by emerging markets that continued to outperform the rest of the world. China and India sustained real GDP growth rates of 10.5 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively. Market capitalisations grew rapidly in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, driven by strong corporate profits, IPO activity and ongoing foreign investment.

Although performance varied across the world, almost all indices posted gains, with the Dow Jones World Index growing by 16.4 per cent. The BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) continued to play increasingly important roles in the global economy in 2006. China and Russia were among the Top 10 countries with the fastest growing HNWI populations.

China's HNWI population grew by 7.8 per cent and Russia's by 15.5 per cent. Brazil and India also showed continued strength, based on domestic private consumption and competitive service and manufacturing sectors. Latin America saw real GDP growth of 4.8 per cent and lured substantial foreign direct investment. The region's HNWI population jumped by 10.2 per cent as it continued to outperform the global average of 8.3 per cent.

The Middle East was the only region to see a dispersion, rather than a consolidation of wealth.