India’s multimillionaires are multiplying the fastest over the next five years amid economic prosperity, Knight Frank report says

Asia’s population of multimillionaires is expected to grow by 44 per cent over the next five years, or double the pace in North America, fuelled by the rise of the middle classes in emerging markets like India, according to Knight Frank Research.

The firm projected the size of India’s ultra high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) – those with US$30 million including their primary residence – to grow by 73 per cent over a five-year period to 2024. That would be the biggest increase globally, and compares with a 22 per cent increase in the US, 29 per cent in Singapore, and 5 per cent in Hong Kong in that time frame.

There were 5,986 UHNWIs in India in 2019, according to the report. The US had the largest number with 240,575, compared with 61,587 in China, 3,306 in Singapore and 2,737 in Hong Kong. Globally, Knight Frank expects the size of UHNWIs to grow by 27 per cent to 649,331 by 2024.

“Within the Asia-Pacific region, the countries expected to witness the strongest rise in UHNWI populations are, unsurprisingly, also the fastest growing economies globally,” Knight Frank said with the release of its Wealth Report on Wednesday. “Emerging markets like India, Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Malaysia are set to overtake the growth rate in mature wealth hubs of Japan, South Korea and Singapore.”

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Knight Frank based its predictions on a basket of drivers such as GDP growth, property price growth, interest rates and inflation. India’s economy, for example, is projected to grow by more than 7 per cent in 2021, it said, citing the International Monetary Fund.

That scenario however could be under some stress following the impact of coronavirus outbreak this year. The outbreak that started from mainland China has lately rocked global financial markets and crimped growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

“Economic uncertainty and geopolitical uncertainty are at a recent high,” Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight. Frank, said in an interview. “The coronavirus is part of that. It will have a strong impact on economic growth. While we expect that there will be a slowdown over the next 12 months, the question is how quickly global growth will come back.”

India’s expected rise is reflected in the optimism shown by private bankers it surveyed, where 73 per cent of them said their clients’ wealth will increase in 2020. While the US and the UK are the most popular places for property investments, India’s super-rich cited the Indian subcontinent as their preferred market.

The opinion was compiled based on responses in its survey of 620 private bankers and wealth advisers who helped manage US$3.3 trillion of client assets in October and November last year, Knight Frank said.