Hong Kong  - The number of US-dollar millionaires in Asia surged in 2007, with India having the fastest growing population of individuals holding at least 1 million US dollars in financial assets, a wealth report said Friday.

India added more millionaires to its ranks than any other country after about 25,000 people gained millionaire status last year, according to an annual wealth report produced by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini consultants.

The total number of people in India with assets of more than 1 million dollars has risen to 123,000, a year-on-year rise of 22.7 per cent.

Hong Kong surged by more than 9,000 people to 95,000 last year. The territory was among the fastest-growing markets in the world for high net-worth individuals, the South China Morning Post said, quoting the wealth report.

China gained the number two spot with a 20.3 per cent in the number of millionaires to 415,000, the report said.

South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore all saw double digit growth in millionaire numbers despite shaky stock and property markets partly caused by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis last year.

"In the Asia-Pacific region, wealth is being created at an unprecedented rate. We are in the midst of a multi-year growth trajectory in terms of the number of high net-worth individuals in this part of the world and also their combined wealth," said Victor Tan of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management.

Overall, the total number of wealthy people in the Asia-Pacific region totalled 2.8 million and they had a combined wealth of 9.5 trillion dollars last year, up 12.5 per cent. (dpa)