By 2027, India will have nearly a million millionaires
![A general view of Mumbai's central financial district, India June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui](https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_sI0eU-S9phsrRd6Bz0FSwhjbEiLtYqyVFhlWFbx8F90.jpg)
Mumbai: Home to more Indian millionaires than any other city Image: REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
![A hand holding a looking glass by a lake](/uplink.jpg)
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
India
India’s list of millionaires has more than doubled in the last 10 years. But there’s still no stopping Indians.
The country will have 950,000 millionaires by 2027, up almost 190% from 330,000 last year, a recent report by Johannesburg-based market research group New World Wealth predicts. This rise will mainly be due to competitive wages, strong economic growth, and an increasing number of entrepreneurs, the report said.
Back in 2007, India had only 124,000 high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), or people with net assets worth $1 million (Rs7 crore) or more.
The latest millionaires’ list includes several young founders of startups with multi-billion dollar valuations. Some of these include Ritesh Agarwal of hotel group OYO and Kunal Bahl, co-founder of e-commerce player Snapdeal. In fact, some like Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma have even made it to the billionaire’s club.
In 2017, HNIs held $3.9 billion, or 48% of India’s estimated $8.2 billion wealth, according to New World Wealth.
Wealth refers to the net assets of a person. It includes property, cash, equities, and business interests—less liabilities. This wealth is set to triple in the next decade to $25 billion by 2027, New World Wealth estimates.
Who, what, where
Most of India’s ultra-rich reside in Mumbai. The country’s financial capital is home to 28 of the country’s 119 billionaires, which is twice as many as those in the national capital Delhi.
More than four in 10 HNIs residing in India held the post of a director at a company. Managing directors and CEOs were a distant second.
![](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/MeJO9No6omXU78WlLMBh5cXnq16CWPqfGg2DTHKbl3s.png)
How HNIs store their wealth
At the end of 2017, holding shares in businesses they helped build was the most favoured investment channel for Indian HNIs, making up for a quarter of their assets. Cash and bonds, real estate, and equities accounted for over 21%.
The share of Indian HNI wealth held offshore rose to approximately 19% in 2017 from 15% in 2007. These holdings are mainly in cash (US dollars) or equities in the US and Asia.
One in five Indian HNIs held properties abroad; London, New York, Singapore, and Dubai are popular destinations for second homes.
![](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/ijkJ13SWOUMQ1-3Nfvx5qZLxsThDxNYjlI5fSVsCDuk.png)
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Geographies in DepthSee all
David Elliott
July 19, 2024
Tariq Malik and Prerna Saxena
July 12, 2024
Ange Chitate
July 10, 2024
Ratnesh Bedi, Asheesh Sastry and Toong-Yuen Chong
July 3, 2024
Why Asia’s time is now: what's fueling Asian growth and what does it mean for the rest of the world?
Neeraj Aggarwal and Aparna Bharadwaj
June 24, 2024