There are currently 284,140 wealthy people in India, but this number is set to experience a steep increase of 87% in the next five years, according to a joint report from IIFL Wealth Management and research firm Wealth-X.
The IIFL Wealth Management Wealth Index 2018 predicts that there will be 529,940 wealthy Indians by 2023, but it does not make clear the criteria for inclusion.
The current group of wealthy individuals have a combined worth of INR95trn (£1trn, $1.3trn, €1.1trn), giving them an average of INR334m each.
The report expects the collective wealth of India’s richest individuals to rise to INR188trn by 2021.
Despite the remarkable expected increase, India’s wealthy in 2023 will still only make up around 3.5% of the country’s projected population of 1.43bn.
However, this is an improvement against the current proportion of 2.1%.
Trailblazer
The wealth of India’s ultra-high net worth population is rising at the fifth fastest rate in the world, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.7%, according to Wealth-X.
This is set to make the country a “trailblazer among the world’s most powerful fortune builders”, according to the report.
“As India’s super-rich head the wealth league table, their impact will be magnified around the world as they choose increasingly to invest overseas in business and property or to be educated abroad.
“Their luxury spending power is set to explode in capitals from London and New York to Paris and Dubai. The Indian wealth factor has only just begun to come into play,” the report stated.
The most popular investment choices among wealthy Indians are investment funds (31%) and equities (16%), followed by fixed-income (13%) and property (10%).
