Millionaires control 41% of world’s wealth, expected to take more

“The wealthier are getting more and more wealthy.”

Millionaires are expected to control nearly half of the world’s personal wealth by 2019, according to a new study, suggesting that the wealth gap will continue to widen.

The Global Wealth report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said the number of millionaires in the world grew to 17 million in 2014, up from 15 million in 2013. The world’s millionaires now control 41 percent of the $164 trillion in global private wealth, up from 40 percent in 2013. The report said millionaires are expected to control 46 percent of the world’s wealth in 2019.

The growing fortunes of the wealthy are owed largely to rising stock markets and asset prices around the world. According to BCG, 73 percent of the gains in global private wealth last year came from market performance on existing assets rather than newly created wealth or businesses.

“The wealthier are getting more and more wealthy,” said Anna Zakrzewski, a BCG partner and managing director. “They have a much larger share of their wealth invested in equity markets and last year was a good year for market performance.”

By far, the U.S. still has the largest number of millionaires. That segment of the population grew by 4.7 percent last year to 6.9 million.

China ranked second in millionaire population but had the largest number of new millionaires in 2014.

More From CNBC: