India To Have 19,900 Ultra-Wealthy Individuals by 2028

 Chennai: The number of ultra-high net-worth individuals in India is expected to rise 50 per cent to 19,908 by 2028, finds an estimate by Knight Frank India. This would be the highest growth for any country in the next five years.

In 2023, the number of UHNWIs (individuals with net-worth of $30 million and more) in India grew 6.1 per cent to 13,263. In the next five years, the number of UHNWIs will grow by 50.1 per cent to 19,908. This will be the highest growth any country is estimated to have till 2028.

Further, 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.

“While global uncertainty prevails, easing domestic inflationary risks and likelihood of rate cuts will further accentuate the growth of the Indian economy, and the reflection of this sentiment is echoed by wealthy Indians,” said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India.

In 2023, the number of UHNWIs globally rose to 4.2 per cent to 626,619 from 601,300 a year earlier. With 7.2 per cent, North America led the growth and was followed by the Middle East with 6.2 per cent. Only Latin America saw its number of wealthy individuals fall. The number of wealthy individuals globally is expected to surge by 28.1 per cent to 8,02,891 by 2028.

Asia saw 2.6 per cent growth in UHNWIs in 2023 and is estimated to register 38.3 per cent growth for next five years. Apart from 50 per cent growth in India, China is expected to grow by 47 per cent, Malaysia 35 per cent and Indonesia 34 per cent.

Further, 32 per cent of India’s UHNWIs are allocating wealth in residential real estate. Nearly 14 per cent of the residential portfolio is allocated outside India and about 12 per cent of them plan to buy a new home in 2024 while a similar number of the wealthy purchased a new home in 2023.