India’s ultra wealthy population to grow by 58% in next five years: Report

The rich are getting richer in India, if a new report is to be believed. According to Knight Frank’s ‘The Wealth Report 2023’, India’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI), with net worth over $30 million, is estimated to rise by 58.4 per cent in the next five years from 12,069 in 2022 to 19,119 individuals in 2027. India’s billionaire population is expected to increase from 161 individuals in 2022 to 195 individuals in 2027. The Indian high-net-worth-individual (HNI) population, with asset value of $1 million and more, which was recorded at 797,714 persons in 2022 will also rise to 1.65 million, a growth of 107 per cent in a five-year period.

In 2022, the global population of UHNWIs declined by 3.8 per cent, after a record climb of 9.3 per cent in 2021, as the wealth and the investment portfolio of the ultra-wealthy were impacted by economic slowdowns, frequent rate hikes and rising geopolitical uncertainties. The trend was noted in India too, where the UHNWI population registered a decline of 7.5 per cent YoY in 2022 over 2021. For India, apart from the rise in interest rates, the appreciation of the US dollar also impacted the growth of wealth. However, the HNI population remained on a growth path registering a YoY growth of 4.5 per cent in 2022 and India’s billionaire population rose by 11 per cent YoY in 2022 compared to the previous year.

In 2022, the dominance of Asia in creation of new wealthy saw a slowdown with UHNWI population declining by 6.5 per cent YoY in 2022. However, three out of the top ten highest growth spots were held by Asian markets of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia recording between 5 per cent and 7 per cent rise in the ultra-wealthy population. Further, this region is estimated to witness a growth of close to 40 per cent in its ultra-wealthy count in the next five years. By 2027, Asia will be home to 210,175 UHNIs taking over Europe and standing only second to Americas.

According to a study based on the Knight Frank’s Wealth Sizing Model, the total net worth required by an individual to be among the top 1 per cent wealth individuals in India is estimated to be $175,000. The wealth needed to join their ranks varies sharply from country to country. In Monaco, which has the world’s densest population of super-rich individuals, the entry point for the 1 per cent club is $12.4 million. Interestingly, this is double the amount needed for the second placed country in this study, Switzerland, which has an entry point at $6.6 million. For Asia, Singapore has the highest threshold with $3.5 million followed by Hong Kong at $3.4 million.

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