NEW YORK - The world's population of millionaires shrank (shrink的过去分词形式，收缩) dramatically (急剧地) last year, as the global economic crisis took its toll (损失，代价，费用) on the wealthy (这里指富人), according to a report by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and consulting firm Capgemini.
The number of people with assets (财产) of between $1 million and $30 million fell 14.9 percent to 8.6 million, according to the World Wealth Report released Wednesday. The former parent of the wealth management unit, Merrill Lynch & Co. — which reported more than $35 billion in losses in 2007 and 2008 — was acquired by Bank of America Corp. this year.
The steep (陡峭的，急剧的) reduction (减少，缩小) in millionaires represented the largest decline in the report's 13-year history, said Ileana van der Linde, a principal with Capgemini. It also brought the number of millionaires and their wealth below 2005 levels.