ABOUT INDIA India wealth to double in 5 yrs

NEW DELHI: India's robust economic growth is likely to drive the country's fortune to a whopping $6.4 trillion in the next five years, reflecting a nearly two-fold jump from the country's current wealth, says a report.

According to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report published for the first time, the total wealth of India has trebled in a decade to $3.5 trillion. By 2015, the country's wealth could nearly double to $6.4 trillion.

Besides, the global wealth, which stood at USD 195 trillion will rise by an impressive 61 per cent to $315 trillion by 2015, primarily driven by the robust economic expansion in the emerging markets.

Interestingly, Asia Pacific boasts of more billionaires than Europe. There are over 1,000 billionaires globally, of which 500 are in North America, followed by 245 in Asia Pacific and 230 in Europe.

Besides, the report said that there were 24 million high- net-worth individuals (HNIs), whose average wealth per adult stood in the range of $1-$50 million. China has over 800,000 HNIs, India has around 170,000 while rest of the Asia Pacific as over four million HNIs.

Meanwhile, in terms of the countries generating maximum wealth, the US has emerged as the topper with the total of $54.6 trillion of household wealth followed by Japan at $21 trillion and China at $16.5 trillion.

Notably, most parts of Asia Pacific - ranging from commodities-driven economies such as New Zealand and Australia to fast-growing emerging economies such as China, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - have recorded an exorbitant growth of 100 per cent to almost 400 per cent in average wealth per adult.

This growth is much higher than the average global wealth per adult growth rate of 42 per cent.

"The Report confirms that Asia Pacific countries, which now make up the bulk of the world's middle class of emerging consumers, are driving the growth of the world's wealth," Credit Suisse CEO (Asia Pacific) Osama Abbasi said.

Also, the middle segment of the wealth, which is composed of one billion individuals whose average wealth per adult falls in the range of $10,000 to USD 1 million, is located in the fastest-growing economies of the world that hold one- sixth or $32 trillion of global wealth.

In total, almost 60 per cent or 587 million individuals in the middle segment of the wealth pyramid are located in the Asia Pacific region.

The report also pointed out that if historical-level growth trends continue, total household wealth in China could rise 111 per cent to $35 trillion by 2015, outstripping Japan to become the second highest in the world.