SINGAPORE - Singapore's billionaire population grew to 32 individuals this year, up from 27 last year.

But its total billionaire wealth only rose slightly by 1.6 per cent to US$65 billion, according to the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2014 released on Wednesday.

In terms of billionaire population size, Singapore ranks fifth in Asia, coming behind China, which has the most billionaires at 190, India, Hong Kong and Japan.

It has the highest billionaire population in Southeast Asia.

The census, which looks at the global billionaire population from July last year to June this year, found that 155 new billionaires were minted around the world during this period, pushing the global figure to a record 2,325. This is a 7 per cent increase.

Asia is the region that saw the largest growth in billionaire wealth with an 18.7 per cent increase.

Its billionaire population grew by 10 per cent this year with 55 new entrants, of which 33 are from China.