India is expected to see 50% growth in ultra-high networth individuals (UHNIs) in next five years, said a new report on Wednesday.
This will be the highest for any country, globally. The UHNI count in the country is expected to rise from 13,263 in 2023, to 19,908 by 2028, according to The Wealth Report 2024 by global consultancy Knight Frank. UHNWI are defined as individuals with a net worth of US$ 30 million and above.
Overall, the number of wealthy individuals globally is expected to surge by 28.1% to 8,02,891 by 2028. In 2023, the number of UHNIs globally rose to 4.2%, 626,619 from 601,300 a year earlier. India saw an annual rise of 6.1% in UHNI population in 2023 over the previous year, which was recorded at 13,263, it said.
According to the report, 90% of Indian UHNIs are expecting an increase in their wealth during 2024. Almost 63% are expecting to witness a significant increase of more than 10% in their wealth value.
In terms of annual performances by various countries, Turkey leads Knight Frank’s rankings with a 9.7% YoY expansion in UHNI numbers, followed by the US 7.9%, India 6.1%, South Korea 5.6%, and Switzerland 5.2%. At a regional level, North America leads with the number of UHNWIs up 7.2% YoY, the Middle East comes in second place at 6.2% YoY growth and Africa takes third place, growing by 3.8% YoY. Latin America is the only region to see its population of wealthy individuals decline by 3.6% compared to last year.
Shishir Baijal, chairman & managing Director, Knight Frank India, said, “ With 90% of Indian UHNIs envisioning a surge in their fortunes in 2024, the landscape of affluence is vibrant and dynamic. While global uncertainty prevails, easing domestic inflationary risks and likelihood of rate cuts will further accentuate the growth of Indian economy, and the reflection of this sentiment is echoed by wealthy Indians.”
According to the attitude survey that is part of the report, 32% of India’s UHNIs, wealth is allocated towards residential real estate asset. Nearly 14% of residential portfolio is allocated outside India. About 12% of the country’s UHNIs plan to buy a new home in 2024 while a similar percentage of wealthy individuals responded to have purchased a new home in 2023.
Globally, 22% of the ultra-wealthy are expected to purchase a home in 2024. The report further highlighted that on an average an Indian UHNI owns 2.57 homes and 28% of the surveyed UHNIs have rented out their second homes during 2023.
About 17% of the investable wealth of Indian ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNI)is allocated towards passion investments. The survey unveiled that among Indian UHNIs, luxury watches is the most coveted investment category. Not far behind are art and jewellery emerge as the top three categories of investment for these discerning individuals. However, on a global scale, the elite echelon of the super-rich show preference for Art, trailed by luxury watches and classic cars.
Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank, said, “With the mobility of wealth increasing all the time, a key question is whether future growth remains within these and other high-growth markets, or whether there is a leakage of talent to Europe, Australasia or North America. Outside Asia, strong growth is focused on the Middle East, Australasia and North America, with Europe lagging and Africa and Latin America likely to be the weakest regions.”