NEW YORK, March 11: Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has been declared as the world’s wealthiest person and China is fast catching up with the number of US billionaires on the annual Forbes rich list.

The new annual list saw the 70-year-old Slim catapult from third place last year to the top spot, thanks to the success of his America Movil company, Latin America’s biggest mobile phone operator.

His fortune was estimated at $53.5 billion, according to Forbes, which said his wealth increased by $18.5 billion in 12 months.

Bill Gates, 54, slipped to second place with $53 billion while American super investor Warren Buffett was third with $47 billion.

Pakistan had its first person on the list, Mian Muhammad Mansha, at number 937 with an even $1 billion.

The United States remained by far the dominant home of the super-rich, with 403 billionaires, or 40 per cent of the world’s ten-figure fortunes, down from 45 per cent.

China moved up to second place with 64 billionaires, including 27 newly minted ones. Including Hong Kong, China has 89 billionaires.

Forbes counted 1,011 billionaires from 55 countries, up from 793 last year, though still below the pre-crisis 1,125 listed in 2008.

There has been a wealth resurgence after the financial turmoil of 2008 and 2009, with the top 10 worth a combined $342 billion, compared to $254 billion in the previous year.

The list includes 97 fresh billionaires, 62 of them charging out of Asia, a region that saw booming stock markets and several large public offerings in the past year.

Russia comes in third with 62 billionaires, many of them commodity kings who fell off the list last year, only to see their vast natural resource holdings regain value this year.—AFP