Economic crises and fears of possible sovereign defaults might be hot topics for policymakers and businessmen, but it has failed to derail the growth in the number of wealthy individuals. India's population of
high net worth individuals (HNIs) also continued to grow, making it the world's 12th largest in 2010.
The population and wealth of world's HNIs expanded in 2010 and surpassed the 2007 pre-crisis levels in nearly every region, according to World Wealth Report 2011 released by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini, a global consulting, technology and outsourcing services company.
The global population of HNIs increased by 8.3% to 1.09 crore and its total wealth grew by 9.7% to around $42.7 trillion (Rs 1,900 lakh crore). The global population of ultra HNIs grew by 10.2% in 2010 and its wealth by 11.5%.
HNIs are individuals with investible assets of at least $1 million, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables. Ultra HNIs are defined as those with investible assets of at least $30 million.
Asia-Pacific posted the strongest regional growth in HNI population in 2010, becoming the second largest region for both HNI wealth and population, second only to North America.
Asia-pacific had pipped Europe in 2009 in terms of HNI wealth. It has now surpassed Europe in terms of HNI population, expanding 9.7% to 33 lakh, while Europe grew 6.3% to 31 lakh. Asia-Pacific HNIs' wealth gained 12.1% to $10.8 trillion, exceeding Europe's HNI wealth of $10.2 trillion, where the wealth increase was 7.2% in 2010.
In 2010, India's HNI population grew at 20.8% to 153,000 compared with 126,700 in 2009. This is the second consecutive year in which India's HNI population growth has been among the top gainers, as it continues to benefit from a robust economy and strength in other key wealth drivers such as growth in the equity market.
The US, Japan and Germany continued to have the largest HNI population, together accounting for 53% of the world's HNIs. The US had 28.6% of the HNI population.
