India’s population of rich rising: Report

Jaswinder Singh Baidwan

Akhran da mureed
Staff member
India is emerging as a major driver of wealth creation among the high net worth individuals (HNWI) and recorded the largest percentage point gains - in the Asia Pacific region and globally - in HNWI population (26.3 per cent to 1.98 lakh) and wealth (28.2 per cent to $785 billion).
The “World Wealth Report 2015”, released by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management, showed that there were 1.98 lakh HNWIs in India in 2014, while the figure stood at 1,56 lakh in 2013.
The report defines HNWIs as those having investable assets of $1 million (Rs 6.5 crore) or more, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables, and consumer durables.
China and India were among the key emerging markets to spearhead the continued rise in Asia-Pacific’s HNWI population and wealth in 2014.
“Asia-Pacific continues its tremendous run in wealth creation and doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon,” said Barend Janssens, head, RBC Wealth Management - Asia.
Asia-Pacific has already surpassed North America with the largest HNWI population (4.69 million versus 4.68 million), and is expected to overtake North America's leading $16.2 trillion in HNWI wealth by the end of the year.
Looking further ahead, the report said HNWI wealth is expected to expand more in Asia-Pacific than in any other region of the world with much of the new wealth expected to come from the emerging economies of China, India, Indonesia, and Thailand.
The report said China and India, in particular, have propelled Asia-Pacific HNWI wealth growth in recent years and are expected to continue to act as key drivers, both in the region and globally. China and India represent nearly 10 per cent of global HNWI wealth, and account for 17 per cent of the global increase in new wealth since 2006, adding $3.2 trillion during that time.
“The election of a popular reform-minded Prime Minister helped to boost investor confidence and contributed to strong performance in the stock market, with a 21.9 per cent increase in the MSCI Index. Lower oil prices helped reduce the country's budget deficit and retail inflation fell considerably,” the report said.
“All these events helped India moved up to third place for HNWI wealth across Asia Pacific, displacing Australia, which suffered from a 7.6 per cent decline in equity markets,” it said. India has been ranked 11th in the list of countries with highest number of HNWI population.
 
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