(FORTUNE Magazine) – The rich are getting richer--but not in the U.S. According to a new report by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch, the number of millionaires* increased during 2002 in every region of the world but North and Latin America (in the States, the number fell by 100,000, to two million). The overall 2.1% increase, to 7.3 million millionaires worldwide, was the lowest growth rate in the report's seven-year history. --Muoi Tran

*The study defines high-net-worth individuals as having financial assets of at least $1 million, excluding home real estate.