India ranks 3rd in billionaire population globally, Mumbai houses most of country's super wealthy

NEW DELHI: At 145 billionaires, India has the third-highest billionaire population globally, after US and China while the number of ultra-high net worth individuals with net assets of $30 million ( Rs 226 crore) or more, increased 11% in 2021 on the back of a buoyant equity market and digital revolution, said Knight Frank in its latest edition of the Wealth Report 2022.This is the highest percentage growth in Asia Pacific.


Mumbai leads with the highest number of UHNWIs at 1,596, followed by Hyderabad at 467, Pune at 360, Bengaluru at 352, Kolkata at 257, Delhi at 210, Chennai at 160 and Ahmedabad at 121.
Amongst key Indian cities, Bengaluru witnessed the highest growth in the number of UHNWIs with 17.1% to 352 followed by Delhi with 12.4% to 210 and Mumbai with 9% to 1596 in 2021.
In the last 5 years for the major markets, Delhi has witnessed an increase of 101.2% followed by Mumbai (+42.6%) and Bengaluru (+22.7%). However, in the next 5 years, Bengaluru is projected to witness an increase of 89% of the UHNWI population and become home to 665 ultra-wealthy individuals by 2026.

“Equity markets and digital adoption have been the key factors driving the growth of UHNWIs in India. The growth in younger, self- made UHNWIs has been incredible in India and we foresee them to drive new investment themes and innovation. With a healthy growth in the UHNWI and Billionaire population, India is expected to be one of the fastest growing countries amongst its global peers, further strengthening itself economically and emerging as a superpower in different sectors," said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India
Around 69% of the super wealthy individuals in India is expected to witness an increase of over 10% in their net worth in 2022.
Asia continues to be the forerunner in the billionaires’ club contributing to 36% of the total billionaires in the world in 2021.
Every region across the world saw an increase in the number of UHNWIs between 2020 and 2021 except for Africa, where the UHNWI population declined by 0.8 percent.
Over the next five years, Knight Frank forecasts that the global UHNWIs population will grow by a further 28%, with Asia and Australia (+33% each) seeing the largest growth, followed by North America (+28%) and Latin America (+26%). The number of UHNWI population in India is expected to grow by 39% between 2021 and 2026, with 19,006 people expecting to have net assets of US$30m or more by 2026.

"The growth in younger self-made UHNWIs (22% of the total) will drive new investment themes and innovation in the near-term. However, with 83% of our Attitude Survey respondents expecting wealth to rise in 2022, and our expectation of a further 28% growth in global UHNWIs by 2026, policy responses to tackle inequality are on the rise. Expect more wealth taxation, focused on assets rather than income, and a narrowing in the number of low-tax-jurisdictions," said Liam Bailey, Global Head of Research at Knight Frank