India’s millionaire club to more than double to 5,54,000 by 2025

The number of millionaires in India is growing strongly and is estimated to more than double to reach around 5,54,000 by 2025 from around 2,36,000 at the end of 2015

India's high net worth individuals had a combined wealth of $1.5 trillion, says, the India 2016 Wealth Report, by New World Wealth.

While most countries worldwide have experienced negative or negligible growth since 2007, India has performed "very well" in terms of wealth performance through this period, says the report.

According to the report, HNWI volumes in India increased by 55 per cent from 1,52,000 in 2007 to 2,36,000 in 2015 while HNWI wealth rose 67 per cent, from $0.9 trillion in 2007 to $1.5 trillion in 2015.

Millionaires or HNWIs or high net worth individuals refer to individuals with net assets of $1 million or more.

The growth of the millionnaire club was driven by strong growth in wealth creation, especially in sectors such as in local construction, financial services, IT, business process outsourcing and healthcare sectors. This, in turn spurred entrepreneurship levels, the report notes.

The growth in HNWI wealth and numbers are expected to remain strong for the next 10 years, according to the report.

"We expect the number of Indian HNWIs to grow by 135 per cent, to reach around 5,54,000 by 2025. This will make India one of the top five performing HNWI markets in the world over this period (in terms of percentage of HNWI growth), along with Vietnam, Sri Lanka, China and Mauritius," it said.

The 135 per cent rise will be fuelled by strong growth in the local financial services, professional services and media sectors.

The main factors that encourage wealth growth in a country include, strong ownership rights on which the country scored 9/10, followed by strong economic growth (9/10).

A well-developed banking system and stock market was another factor as it encourages the people to invest their money within a country and grow their wealth locally, the report said.

The report however, noted that excessive government regulations are a major hurdle for new businesses in India.

"Corruption is also a major problem - businesses often need to pay regular bribes to government officials in order to operate successfully. This problem has improved over the past year since Prime Minister Modi took office," it said.

India is often cited as a difficult place for overseas investors to do business as the system lacks transparency in several parts and the cost of starting business in India is very high.

"India also ranks as one of the worst countries in the world for the ability to enforce a contract, taking an average of 1,420 days," it said.