India Emerges as Sixth Wealthiest Nation in the World: Report

India climbed up one spot to figure at the sixth place among the world’s top 10 wealthiest countries in 2017, a recent report shows. The private wealth of Indians increased 25 per cent between 2016 and 2017, contributing to India’s total wealth of $8,230 billion, according to the AfrAsia Bank Global Wealth Migration Review 2018.

India’s wealth is also projected to grow by 200 per cent between 2017 and 2027, achieving the fastest growth rate among the richest nations. The country, with total wealth of about $24,691 billion, is estimated to rise to the fourth rank on the list by 2027, buoyed by the large number of entrepreneurs, good education system, and positive outlook for IT, business process outsourcing, real estate, healthcare and media sectors.

The United States is currently the wealthiest country in the world, with a total wealth of $62,584 billion, followed by China ($24,803 billion) and Japan ($19,522 billion), the report shows. While the United States grew richer by 15 per cent from 2016 to 2017, China’s wealth grew by 22 per cent in the corresponding period while India achieved 25 per cent wealth growth, up from $6,584 billion in 2016.

Other countries on the list of wealthiest nations include the United Kingdom ($9,919 billion), and Germany ($9,660 billion) at the fourth and fifth spots, respectively. France, Canada, Australia, and Italy follow India to make up the top 10 richest countries on the list.

Global wealth is projected to increase by 50 per cent over the next decade, reaching $321 trillion by 2027.

The report takes into account the total private wealth held by the entire population of each country, including all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities. Government funds are excluded from the figures.

Global wealth rose by 12 per cent in 2017, from $192 trillion at the end of 2016 to $215 trillion at the end of 2017, according to the report, with India emerging as the best performing wealth market (25 per cent wealth growth during 2016-27) ahead of China (22 per cent wealth growth). Pakistan and Nigeria were hit by safety concerns, and stood as the worst performing wealth markets in 2016-17, with -10 per cent wealth growth in the period.

There are about 15.2 million high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in the world, each with net assets of $1 million or more. There are approximately 584,000 multi-millionaires in the world, each with net assets of $10 million or more while the number of billionaires in the world is 2,252, each with net assets of $1 billion or more.

The total number HNWIs in India is 330,400, and they hold 48 per cent of the country’s wealth, according to the report. “If HNWIs control over 40 per cent of a country’s wealth then there is very little space for a meaningful middle class. Ideally the ratio should be less than 30 per cent,” said the report.

There are 20,730 multi-millionaires and 119 billionaires in India. The number of billionaires in India is the third highest in the world, after the United States (737) and China (249).

With Indian HNWIs moving to the United States, UAE, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, India also experienced the second biggest wealth outflow in 2017, behind China. “The outflows of HNWIs from these countries are not particularly concerning as they are still producing far more new HNWIs than they are losing,” the report said. “Also, once the standard of living in these countries improves, we expect several wealthy people to move back,” it added.