The global super-rich are even more wealthy than you can imagine

Last year, the richest people in the world got richer than ever before.

The global super-rich, those high net worth individuals (HNWIs) with more than $1 million of investable assets, are now worth a record $46.2 trillion, growing 10 percent compared to 2011, according to a joint report from the Royal Bank of Canada and Capgemini. And we're not talking about the global 1 percent here, more like the global 0.001 percent, with one million people joining the global elite this year bringing the total to around 12 million.

Just to put their wealth into perspective, these 12 million people are worth three times more than the U.S. economic output last year and more than six times China's GDP.

North America regained its position as the wealthiest region in the world in terms of both population of HNWIs (3.37 million) and their total wealth ($12.7 trillion). Here's a look at how other regions stacked up:

Clearly Asia-Pacific isn't far behind with growth of wealthy individuals only expected to increase for the region. While the rest of the world is expected to see annual wealth grow at 6.5 percent, Asia-Pacific will see 9.8 percent, 1.5 times the global average. The report expects Asia-Pacific to once again take the top spot in the near future.

Africa, while at the bottom in terms of overall population of super-rich and their total wealth, saw high growth rates in both measurements.

And things are only looking better for the uber wealthy.

"Despite a marked focus on capital preservation and high cash allocations, high net worth individuals achieved a record level of wealth in 2012, suggesting further growth lies ahead if trust and confidence in the markets increase further," said M. George Lewis, head of RBC Wealth Management.

Meanwhile, global unemployment will be "a major global challenge for the years to come."

Download the full report here.

Photo: Flickr/Justin in SD

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com