Rich list: India to gain 8th position by 2017

In less than a decade from now, Indian millionaires will hold more than double the wealth of their Chinese counterparts, reveals a study by banking agent Barclays. India with its increasing number of millionaires is projected to be in the 8th position among the world’s top 10 wealth centres by 2017.

Over the next decade, the number of dollar millionaires in India is expected to touch 4,11,000 from a negligible number currently. The report further says that emerging markets like India, China and Russia are fast catching up with the rich countries in terms of their wealth.

Moreover, by 2017 the four emerging markets– India, China, Brazil and Russia– will have so many millionaires that it would be inappropriate to call them emerging markets, Barclays added. The second fastest growing economy India is expected to join the league of top 10 wealth centres by 2017 by that time its neighbour China is likely to move up to third rank from its present seventh place.

While Russia could experience considerable growth, moving to 11th place from 19th, Brazil will also move up the ladder to 12th from 15th. The report says a sudden spurt in the wealth of emerging markets has displaced more developed economies such as Australia, South Korea and Portugal from the list. Australia‘s ranking fell from 10th to 16th, while South Korea dipped to 12th from 15th and Portugal came down to 34th from 25th.

In 2007, G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US — contained more than one million millionaire households. According to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on behalf of Barclays Wealth, these households are expected to be worth $1.7 trillion, or over the country’s current market capitalization of about $1.3 trillion.

But as a percentage of the population these households will comprise just 0.2%. In comparison, smaller countries like Singapore and Hong Kong will have the highest concentration of millionaires with about 40% of the households in each country having wealth in excess of $1 million.

In absolute terms, however, India is projected to have one of the fastest-growing affluent markets in the world, making it the eighth largest wealth centre by 2017. The numbers of mass affluent, with wealth over $500,000, is expected to rise from a negligible figure in 2007 to 1.9 million by 2017.

The five-year bull run has contributed significantly to the rising fortunes, with many corporates and entrepreneurs tapping the markets to raise funds. Inherited wealth and rising corporate salaries are also key drivers.