India to post fastest wealth growth till '27

India over 10 years will emerge as the fourth wealthiest country in the world with a private wealth of $24.69 trillion.

India will be recording the fastest growth of 200 per cent over 10 years to emerge as the fourth wealthiest country in the world with a private wealth of $24.69 trillion, overtaking the UK and Germany, reveals a report by AfrAsia Bank.
Asia's third largest economy, currently ranked as sixth wealthiest in the world, also topped the list of "Best Performing Wealth Markets" with a growth of 25 per cent to $8.23 trillion as the global wealth rose by 12 per cent in 2017 (from $192 trillion at the end of 2016 to $215 trillion at the end of 2017), according to AfrAsia Bank Global Wealth Migration Review 2018.
Malta and China with growth rates of 22 per cent each followed India as the best performing markets for wealth creation.
The US is currently the wealthiest country in the world at $62.58 trillion, followed by China ($24.80 trillion), Japan ($19.52 trillion), the UK ($9.91 trillion), Germany ($9.66 trillion), India ($8.23 trillion), France (6.64 trillion), Canada ($6.39 trillion), Australia ($6.14 trillion) and Italy ($4.27 trillion) among the top 10.
In 10 years, the US will continue to lead with total $75.10 trillion; followed by China ($69.44 trillion), Japan ($25.37 trillion), India ($24.69 trillion), the UK ($10.91 trillion) and Germany ($10.62 trillion).
The worst performing wealth markets' table for 2016-17 was led by Pakistan and Nigeria, showing an annual decline of 10 per cent each. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are among the world's top 10 worst performing wealth markets.
For Pakistan, the decline was driven by stock market losses and safety concerns, while for Qatar, it was its weakening ties with neighbouring countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt that has deterred investment. The Saudi decline was triggered by stock market losses and a large outflow of HNWIs (high networth individuals) from the country as the largest Arab economy struggled to diversify its economy away from oil, said the report.
According to the report, global wealth, which has risen by 27 per cent over the past 10 years (from $169 trillion at the end of 2007 to $215 trillion at the end of 2017), assisted by strong wealth growth in Asia, is expected to rise by 50 per cent over the next decade, reaching $321 trillion by 2027. This will again be driven by strong growth in Asia.
Over 10 years, along with India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, China, and Mauritius will be among the fastest   growing wealth markets.
India's exceptional growth will be driven by factors such as a large number of entrepreneurs, good educational system and English speaking population, strong growth forecast in the local financial services, IT, business process outsourcing, real estate, healthcare and media sectors.
Among the 10 global cities to look out for most vibrant growth, 6 are from India. They include Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Other cities include Colombo, Ho Chi Minh City, Hangzhou and Port Louis.
"Wealth migration figures are a very important gauge of the financial health of an economy. For instance, if a country is losing a large number of HNWIs to migration, it is probably due to serious problems in that country (crime, lack of business opportunities, religious tensions etc.). Conversely, countries that attract HNWIs tend to be very healthy and normally have low crime rates, good schools and good business opportunities," said AfrAsia Bank report.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com