India added 39,000 millionaires in 2024: UBS
What's the story
India saw a surge of 39,000 new dollar millionaires in 2024, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report.
The increase of 4.4% puts India fourth on the global list, behind Turkey, UAE, and Russia.
The report highlights India's wealth creation and distribution trends among emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, and South Africa.
Global comparison
India has a total of 917,000 millionaires
With a total of 917,000 dollar millionaires, India outnumbered Brazil, Russia, and South Africa.
However, China remained an outlier among emerging economies with over 6.3 million millionaires.
The report is based on data from 56 countries where the US and Mainland China hold more than half of the global wealth in individual hands.
Inequality index
India's rising inequality and median income growth
The UBS report also highlights India's rising inequality, with a two-point increase in the Gini coefficient since 2020.
This places India fifth on the list of countries with rising inequality, after The Netherlands, Austria, Kazakhstan, and Mainland China.
Over the last five years, India has been among the bottom six countries for median income growth.
Global standing
Inequality ranking for year 2024
In terms of inequality for the year 2024, India ranked eighth among the 56 countries surveyed by UBS.
This is better than Brazil and Russia but worse than China, which ranked at 17.
The report highlights the wealth distribution trends across these nations and India's position in this global context.
Wealth composition
Financial assets account for 20% of gross wealth in India
The report also sheds light on the composition of personal wealth in India.
It states that financial assets account for just 20% of gross wealth in the country.
This is significantly lower than countries like Sweden and Israel, where it exceeds 80%.
The low percentage highlights a potential area for growth in terms of financial asset accumulation among Indian citizens.
Wealth transition
Wealth transfer to boost number of dollar millionaires in India
The UBS report predicts that India will be among the top countries to witness maximum wealth transfer in the next 25 years.
This is largely due to its young population, which is expected to play a crucial role in this intergenerational wealth transition.
The US will account for over a third of the total $83 trillion global wealth transfer estimated by UBS in this period.