The Chinese mainland rose three spots to fifth place globally for the number of households with assets worth more than US$100 million last year, according to the 2012 Global Wealth Report published by global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in late May.

The United States still had the most ultra-wealthy households (2,928) in 2011, followed by the United Kingdom with 1,125 and Germany with 807. The Chinese mainland had 648 households with more than US$100 million in assets, compared to 538 at the end of 2010, a 20 percent year-on-year increase.

This year's report, titled The Battle to Regain Strength, is BCG's twelfth annual report on the global wealth situation and the second time the firm published figures on countries with the highest number of ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) households.

Also read: Top 15 regions with most millionaire households 2012

The followings are the top 15 countries and regions with the most UHNW households last year: