Regions across the UK have been prospering since 2010 and there are signs of a shift outwards of London's centre of gravity, according to new research by Barclays.

Every UK region has grown wealthier in the last five years, during which time the numbers of millionaires in the country has jumped 41 per cent to 715,000, according to the Barclays UK Prosperity Map.

Barclays attributed the growth to booming house prices and healthy returns in equity markets, as well as higher wages and employment rates. The UK's most prosperous area was unsurprisingly identified as London, where the number of millionaires has risen by 48 per cent since 2010 to 191,000 – more than the combined millionaire population of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England, according to the research. 

More notably, the gap between the capital city and other regions is starting to close and nearly half of all new millionaires since 2010 now live outside of London and the South East. The East of England, which has seen rising house prices and is now home to 23,000 more millionaires than five years ago, was deemed the third most prosperous region after the South East. 

Knight Frank also called attention to strong entrepreneurial activity in Cambridge, which was ranked the third most prosperous UK city after Reading, where average earnings stand at £30,562 ($47,597).

“It is encouraging to see that regions and cities are starting to close the gap with London in terms of prosperity; with the North East, for example, seeing business growth rates behind only London. We need to collectively support entrepreneurship and educational attainment in regions outside of London and the South East so that they continue to grow and prosper,” said the chief executive of Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, Akshaya Bhargava.

Although the North East sits lower on the prosperity index, the region recorded a 50 per cent climb in the number of millionaires, the joint-largest increase of any region in the UK alongside Wales, indicating promise despite its lower than average wealth and generally higher than average unemployment and insolvency rates.