Mumbai, Oct 9 (IANS): The number of millionaires in the country is expected to jump over 66 percent to 302,000 by 2018, according to a report on global wealth released here Wednesday.
India currently has 182,000 millionaires, even as 94 percent of the country's population has wealth below $10,000, the Credit Suisse Research Institute said in its fourth Annual Global Wealth Report 2013.
"As the world's largest democracy with a strong federal structure and vibrant markets, Indian wealth has seen rapid growth since 2000. Wealth per adult has risen by 135 percent from $2000 in 2000 to $4,700 in 2013 at an average annual rate of 8 percent," said Toral Munshi, head of India equity research at Credit Suisse.
Pointing out that wealth in India rose by 7.4 percent to $3.4 trillion in mid-2013, the report said wealth per adult in the country is expected to rise at a rate of 9.3 percent at $6,600 by 2018.
Noting that only 0.4 percent of India's population has a net worth of over $100,000 the report said that "however, due to the country's large population this translates into 2.8 million people".
India has 254,000 members among the top 1 percent of global wealth holders which equates to a 0.5 percent share. the report said.
India has 1,760 ultra high net worth individuals with wealth over $50 million and 770 UHNWIs with more than $100 million, the report added.
While wealth has been rising in India, not every one has been part of this growth story and there is still a great deal of poverty.
"This is reflected in the fact that 94 percent of the adult population has wealth below $10,000," the Credit Suisse report said.