ZURICH (REUTERS) - Britain is US$1.5 trillion (S$2.13 trillion) poorer in dollar terms due to the fall in the pound since the vote to leave the European Union, a Credit Suisse study on global wealth found.

Since the referendum on June 23, the pound has weakened by around 16 per cent against the US dollar, meaning UK wealth is sharply lower expressed in US dollars.

The Credit Suisse study also predicted that around 945 billionaires will be minted around the world in the next five years, bringing their number to nearly 3,000.

"More than 300 of the new billionaires will be from North America," the bank wrote in the report published on Tuesday (Nov 22)."China is projected to add more billionaires than all of Europe combined, pushing the total from China above 420."

China's population of millionaires is also expected to rise by more than 70 per cent between 2016 and 2021 to just under 2,800.

Many banks, including Zurich-based Credit Suisse, are banking on continued growth in Chinese wealth to help pick up the slack from European markets.