'India Had 175,000 Millionaire Households in 2013'

India had 175,000 millionaire households in 2013, ranking 15th in the world, according to a wealth report which said the total number of millionaire households in the world rose to 16.3 million last year.

The Boston Consulting Group's 14th annual report on the global wealth-management industry 'Riding a Wave of Growth: Global Wealth 2014' said global private financial wealth grew by 14.6 per cent in 2013 to reach a total of $152 trillion or Rs 8,968 lakh crore.

The rise was stronger than in 2012, when global wealth grew by 8.7 per cent. The key drivers, for the second consecutive year, were the performance of equity markets.

India ranked 15th last year and had 175,000 millionaire households. Its position improved slightly from 2012 when it had ranked 16 in the world for its number of millionaire households.

India is projected to become the seventh wealthiest nation by 2018. The number of ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) households in India, those with $100 million (Rs 590 crore) or more, stood at 284 last year.

The total number of millionaire households reached 16.3 million in 2013, up strongly from 13.7 million in 2012 and representing 1.1 per cent of all households globally.

The US had the highest number of millionaire households at 7.1 million, as well as the highest number of new millionaires at 1.1 million.

Robust wealth creation in China was reflected by its rise in millionaire households from 1.5 million in 2012 to 2.4 million in 2013, surpassing Japan.

The number of millionaire households in Japan fell from 1.5 million to 1.2 million, driven by the 15 per cent fall in the yen against the dollar.

"As the debate over the global polarization of wealth rages on, one thing is certain: more people are becoming wealthy," the report said.

As in previous years, North America at $50.3 trillion and Western Europe at $37.9 trillion remained the wealthiest regions in the world, followed closely by Asia-Pacific at $37 trillion (2,183 lakh crore).

A key driver in the rise of private wealth in the Asia- Pacific region has been strong GDP growth over the past five years, especially in China, India, and Indonesia, the report said.

Globally, the amount of wealth held privately rose by $19.3 trillion (Rs 1,138.7 lakh crore) in 2013, nearly twice the increase of $10.7 trillion seen in 2012.

The growth of private wealth was driven primarily by returns on existing assets.

The highest density of millionaire households was in Qatar (175 out of every 1,000 households), followed by Switzerland (127) and Singapore (100).

The US had the largest number of billionaires, but the highest density of billionaire households was in Hong Kong (15.3 per million), followed by Switzerland (8.5 per million).

At an expected growth of 9.1 per cent over the next five years, UHNW households are projected to hold $13 trillion (Rs 767 lakh crore) in wealth by the end of 2018.

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