New York is no longer the city with the biggest super-rich population. 
 
 Hong Kong overtook the Big Apple to become the top destination for the planet's wealthiest people last year, according to a study published Thursday by research firm Wealth-X. The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) residing in the Asian financial hub rose by almost a third in 2017 to 10,000, the study said. 
 
 New York had held the top spot since Wealth-X first started ranking cities in 2011. The firm defines a UHNWI as a person worth $30 million or more. 
 
 It said the rise in the number of ultra rich in Hong Kong was propelled by its booming stock market and growing financial links with the broader Chinese economy. 
 
 China's rapid economic growth in recent decades has helped drive a dramatic increase in the number of ultra-rich people in the region. 
 
 Among Hong Kong's most prominent billionaires are Li Ka-shing, whose Cheung Kong (CKHUY) empire controls ports, telecommunications networks and energy companies across the globe. 
 
 No single city in mainland China made it into Wealth-X's top 10 in terms of its number of super-rich individuals. 
 
 It said that was because Chinese wealth was not concentrated in any one area, but distributed around the country. Its wealthiest citizens include tech tycoons Jack Ma and Pony Ma who founded internet juggernauts Alibaba (BABA) and Tencent (TCEHY), respectively. 
 
 "The dynamism of wealth creation across China's vast landscape is nevertheless staggering," the report read. 
 
 Overall, the United States remains the preferred country for the world's richest and is home to almost a third of the world's ultra-high-net-worth individuals. 
 
 But Asia, and China in particular, are catching up. Last year the number of ultra-rich people in Asia rose by 20%. Rising Asian wealth has been helped by increasing consumer spending, more investment in infrastructure and economic reforms, among other factors, Wealth-X said. 
 
 "Asia-Pacific is forecast to close the ultra-wealth gap with other regions over the next five years," the report added. 
 
 For the past four years, the region's tally of people with $1 million in investable assets has been higher than anywhere else in the world, according to another study by consulting firm Capgemini. And by one estimate, China alone already has more billionaires than the United States. 
 
 But things could get tougher in 2018. China faces headwinds from its trade war with the United States and the huge levels of debt in its financial system. Chinese stocks entered a bear market this year, while its currency has plunged versus the dollar. 
 
 Globally, the number of ultra-rich individuals rose by 13% last year to more than 250,000. Their combined total wealth hit $31.5 trillion, boosted by an upturn in the global economy and good performances of stock markets. 
 
 Other cities in the top 10 for global wealth included Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris and London. ||||| The globe’s richest 1% own half the world’s wealth, according to a new report highlighting the growing gap between the super-rich and everyone else. 
 
 The world’s richest people have seen their share of the globe’s total wealth increase from 42.5% at the height of the 2008 financial crisis to 50.1% in 2017, or $140tn (£106tn), according to Credit Suisse’s global wealth report published on Tuesday. 
 
 “The share of the top 1% has been on an upward path ever since [the crisis], passing the 2000 level in 2013 and achieving new peaks every year thereafter,” the annual report said. The bank said “global wealth inequality has certainly been high and rising in the post-crisis period”. 
 
 The increase in wealth among the already very rich led to the creation of 2.3 million new dollar millionaires over the past year, taking the total to 36 million. “The number of millionaires, which fell in 2008, recovered fast after the financial crisis, and is now nearly three times the 2000 figure,” Credit Suisse said. 
 
 These millionaires – who account for 0.7% of the world’s adult population – control 46% of total global wealth that now stands at $280tn. 
 
 At the other end of the spectrum, the world’s 3.5 billion poorest adults each have assets of less than $10,000 (£7,600). Collectively these people, who account for 70% of the world’s working age population, account for just 2.7% of global wealth. 
 
 The report said the poor are mostly found in developing countries, with more than 90% of adults in India and Africa having less than $10,000. “In some low-income countries in Africa, the percentage of the population in this wealth group is close to 100%,” the report said. “For many residents of low-income countries, life membership of the base tier is the norm rather than the exception.” 
 
 Meanwhile at the top of what Credit Suisse calls the “global wealth pyramid”, the 36 million people with at least $1m of wealth are collectively worth $128.7tn. More than two-fifths of the world’s millionaires live in the US, followed by Japan with 7% and the UK with 6%. 
 
 However, the collapse in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote meant the total number of dollar millionaires in the UK fell by 34,000 to 2.19 million. Just over half of the UK’s 51 million adults have wealth in excess of $100,000. The mean average wealth of a UK adult is $278,038, but the median is $102,641. 
 
 While the global population of millionaires has grown considerably, the number of ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) – those with a net worth of $50m or more – has increased even faster. “The number of millionaires has increased by 170% [since 2000], while the number of UHNWIs has risen five-fold, making them by far the fastest-growing group of wealth-holders,” the report said. 
 
 Most of the new UHNWIs have been created in the US, but 22% come from emerging economies, notably China. 
 
 The biggest losers, the report says, are young people who should not expect to become as rich as their parents. “Those with low wealth tend to be disproportionately found among the younger age groups, who have had little chance to accumulate assets,” Urs Rohner, Credit Suisse’s chairman, said. “But we find that millennials face particularly challenging circumstances.” 
 
 Feeling the pinch? The super-rich certainly aren’t Read more 
 
 Rohner, who is paid SFr4m (£3m), said millennials have been dealt a series of blows including high unemployment, tighter mortgage rules, increased income inequality and reduced pensions. “With baby boomers occupying most of the top jobs and much of the housing, millennials are doing less well than their parents at the same age, especially in relation to income, home ownership and other dimensions of well-being assessed in this report.” 
 
 He said that millennials are much more educated than their parents. But he added: “We expect only a minority of high achievers and those in high demand sectors such a s technology or finance to effectively overcome the ‘millennial disadvantage’.” 
 
 Oxfam said Credit Suisse’s research showed that politicians need to do more to tackle the “huge gulf between the haves and the have-nots”. 
 
 “In the UK, the wealthiest 1% have seen their share increase to nearly a quarter of all the country’s wealth, while the poorest half have less than 5%,” Oxfam’s head of advocacy, Katy Chakrabortty, said. “This divide matters hugely at a time when millions of people across the UK face a daily struggle to make ends meet and the numbers living in poverty are the highest for almost 20 years. 
 
 “The recent Paradise Papers revelations laid bare one of the main drivers of inequality – tax-dodging by rich individuals and multinationals. Governments should act to tackle extreme inequality that is undermining economies around the world, dividing societies and making it harder than ever for the poorest to improve their lives. 
 
 “In the UK, the chancellor should use next week’s budget to prioritise tough action to tackle tax avoidance to help provide funds to fight poverty in both the UK and developing countries.” 
 
 •Follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk, or sign up to the daily Business Today email here.
– Looking to hobnob with the rich but not necessarily famous? Although New York City used to be where you'd be find the largest population of super-rich people in the world, Hong Kong has taken over the top spot this year, CNNMoney notes. That's per a new report from research firm Wealth-X, which looked for how many UHNWIs (ultra-high-net-worth individuals) reside in cities around the globe. To qualify as an UHNWI for this study, an individual had to be worth $30 million or more, and thanks to its robust stock market and ties to a burgeoning Chinese economy, Hong Kong now claims more than 10,000 of these super-rich residents. The Big Apple falls to second place with nearly 8,900. Here, the top 10 cities and the number of UHNWIs in each: