That exalted status group has expanded by some 500,000 or 6.5 percent worldwide in the last year, reports the Toronto Globe and Mail. There are now 8.7 million millionaires on the planet, according to a report by Merrill Lynch and consultants Capgemini.

The real growth areas for millionaires has been rapidly developing countries in Asia and the Middle East. South Korea’s millionaire brigade grew by over 20 percent as did India’s where the number was a little under 20 percent.

The surge in real estate and emerging stock markets as well as the boom in oil prices have all made the new millionaires. Oil prices have put Dubai on the list of new millionaire havens but it has also hurt the growth of this elite in the United States and Europe.

And wherever they are, the wealth management industry sees opportunities. “Wealth is a global phenomenon,” one private banker tells the paper. That’s not unlike Nevada’s efforts to extract some of that new wealth in China by bringing the nouveau riche to the high roller suites.

The wealth of millionaires has more than doubled to $30.4-trillion since 1996, when the annual survey began. The report defines millionaires as those who have financial assets of at least $1-million, excluding their primary residence. Of course, with this kind of growth in millionaires, it seems a $1 million just ain’t what it used to be.