Household wealth rises 10% to $5 trillion

India’s household wealth increased 10 per cent to $5 trillion in the one-year period to mid-2017, says a Credit Suisse report.

Aggregate global wealth for the period increased by 6.4 per cent to $280 trillion. “Fluctuations in asset prices and exchange rates account for much of the change in household wealth across regions and countries in the short run,” the report said.

India’s market capitalisation has risen 30 per cent, house prices by around 10 per cent and the rupee has appreciated by four per cent against the dollar during the period under consideration. As a result, India’s wealth grew by $451 billion, the eighth largest wealth gain globally.

Since 2000, wealth in India has grown 9.2 per cent per annum, faster than the global average of six per cent even when taking into account population growth of 2.2 per cent annually, said the brokerage.

Credit Suisse forecasts domestic household wealth to grow by 7.5 per cent annually to reach $7.1 trillion in 2022. Wealth per adult was estimated at $5,980 in mid-2017, an increase of 7.9 per cent, and averaging seven per cent growth over 2000–2017.

Personal wealth in India is dominated by property and other real assets, which make up 86 per cent of estimated household assets. Personal debts are estimated to be just nine per cent of gross assets. Overall household debt as a proportion of assets in India is lower than in most developed countries.

“While wealth has been rising in India, growth remains uneven, with 92 per cent of the adult population having wealth below $10,000. Due to the large population, 4.4 million adults or 0.5 per cent have net worth over $100,000,” said Credit Suisse in its Global Wealth report.

“The number of millionaires grew 21.3 per cent to reach 245,000 in mid-2017, owning $988 billion in wealth; among them, UHNWIs (ultra high net worth individuals) grew by 41.5 per cent to 1,820, ranked 14th globally, while the number of billionaires increased by 56 per cent to 42.” The report forecast India’s millionaires to reach 372,000 in 2022, an increase of more than 50 per cent, or 8.7 per cent annually in the next five years.