The world’s billionaires saw their fortunes decreasing by $388bn in 2018 to $8.5trn after five years of growth.

The findings are from a report by UBS and PwC titled “The Billionaire Effect”.

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The worst-hit was the Asia Pacific region, where the number of billionaires fell 7.4% to 754 last year. China reported 56 billionaires last year.

However, the region continued to have the highest number of billionaires worldwide, with 110 new billionaire list entrants and 169 names dropped from the list.

Wealth fell 6.8% to $2.4 trillion in the EMEA region, with the number of European billionaires dropping by 4.9% to 598 in 2018.

On the contrary, the Americas reported a slight rise in wealth, driven by the tech industry. The net number of billionaires in the region was up by 4.8% to 749 in 2018.

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In spite of the waning growth, billionaire wealth was 34.5% or $2.2 trillion higher compared to 2013.

Notably, the number of female billionaires surged 46% to 233 from 160 over the five-year period. In comparison, the growth rate of their male counterparts was found to be 39%.

UBS Global Wealth Management head of ultra high net worth Josef Stadler: “The billionaire boom of the past five years has now undergone a natural correction. The stronger dollar, combined with greater uncertainty in equity markets amidst a tough geopolitical environment, has created the conditions for this dip.

“Nevertheless, it’s clear that billionaire businesses continue to thrive. Billionaires are creating and steering businesses that consistently outperform equity markets.”