At a time when global household wealth grew by $16.7 trillion to $280 trillion in 2016-17, up 6.4%, household wealth in India grew by $451 billion to nearly $5 trillion, a growth of nearly 10%. Europe and China recorded the second and third highest absolute increase among regions, according to Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report.
While wealth has been rising in India, not everyone has a share in this growth. There is still considerable wealth poverty, as 92% of the adult population has wealth below $10,000.
Financial assets continue to make a substantial contribution to growth of wealth, accounting for half of the increase in wealth. Non-financial assets, too, have grown at a similar pace over the past few years. Non-financial assets are now the main driver of wealth growth in most regions. Personal wealth in India is dominated by property and real assets, which make up 86% of household assets.
Globally, wealth growth outpaced population growth, so that global wealth per adult grew by 4.9%, raising global mean wealth to $56,540 per adult, a new record high. However, inequality has continued to grow upwards. As a result, despite higher mean wealth per adult, median wealth fell this year.