Indian ultra-rich individuals projected to rise 50% by 2028: Report

The number of Indian ultra-high-net-worth individuals is expected to increase to as high as 19,908 by 2028 from 13,263 in 2023, leading to a 50.1 per cent growth in their numbers.Individuals with a net worth of USD 30 million and above are considered ultra-high-net-worth individuals. These numbers, as projected by global consultancy firm Knight Frank, would be the highest growth in number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals for any country, in the next five years. During the same period, the consultancy, in its flagship report, 'Knight Frank Wealth Report 2024', expects the number of wealthy individuals globally is expected to surge by 28.1 per cent to 802,891.

In 2023, the number of such individuals globally rose by 4.2 per cent, 626,619 from 601,300 a year earlier. India, however, saw an annual rise of 6.1 per cent in UHNWI population in 2023 over the previous year. According to the Attitude Survey that is part of the Wealth Report 2024, 32 per cent of India's ultra-high-net-worth individuals, wealth is allocated towards the residential real estate asset class.

According to the Knight Frank report, 90 per cent of Indian UHNWIs are expecting an increase in their wealth this year. Almost 63 per cent of these UHNWIs expect a significant increase of more than 10 per cent in their wealth. "In a transformative era of wealth creation, India stands as a testament to thriving prosperity and burgeoning opportunities in the global economic spectrum," said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India. "While global uncertainty prevails, easing domestic inflationary risks and likelihood of rate cuts will further accentuate the growth of Indian economy, and the reflection of this sentiment is echoed by wealthy Indians," said Baijal. Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank, said outside Asia, strong growth is focused on the Middle East, Australasia and North America, with Europe lagging and Africa and Latin America likely to be the weakest regions.