India sees fall in number of rich in 2011: Capgemini

The number of rich Indians fell 18 per cent in 2011 to 125,000. India had 153,000 high networth individuals or HNIs in 2010, according to the World Wealth Report 2012 by Capgemini, a consulting firm and RBC, a Canadian bank.

The HNI is defined as an individual with $1 million or more for investment. This does not include personal assets like primary residences, collectibles, consumables, and consumer durables.

Here are some takeaways from the report:

• India dropped out of the Top 12 and was replaced by South  Korea.  The Indian equity-market capitalization dropped 33.4 per cent in 2011, after a gain of 24.9 per cent in 2010. That decline, and domestic factors such as increasing budget or fiscal deficit, contributed to a significant drop in India’s HNI population.
• The world’s population of high networth individuals (HNIs) was little changed in size at 11.0 million in 2011, but HNIs’ aggregate investable wealth as measured by asset values slid 1.7 per cent to $42.0 trillion.
• Asia-Pacific is now home to slightly more HNWIs than any other region, though North American HNIs still account for the largest regional share of HNI wealth. The number of Asia-Pacific HNIs hit 3.37 million in 2011, compared to 3.35 million in North America, and 3.17 million in Europe.
• The number of rich in China rose to 562,400 in 2011 against 534,500 in 2010. The number of rich in US fell 3,067,700 from 3,104,200 in 2010.
• In terms of assets, HNWIs’ investable wealth totaled $11.4 trillion in North America, down 2.3 per cent from 2010, and was $10.7 trillion in Asia-Pacific, down 1.1 per cent.
• The bulk of the world’s HNWI population remains concentrated in the U.S., Japan, and Germany. Together, the three countries accounted for 53.3 per cent  of the world’s HNIs in 2011, up slightly from 53.1 per cent in 2010. Beyond the top three, there was little change in the geographic distribution of the world’s HNWIs, though the loss of HNWIs in India was enough to push it from the Top 12, and it was replaced by South Korea.
• Looking ahead, global GDP growth is expected to further slow to 2.2 per cent in 2012 as spillover effects from the Eurozone crisis continue to dampen growth rates, and as fiscal drags mount. By 2013, however, more policy initiatives are likely to have materialized to control debt contagion and spur growth, helping push world GDP expansion up to a forecast 2.9 per cent, and  sending growth in China and India back up to a forecast 8.5 per cent and 8.0 per cent respectively. The political environment is also likely to have a tangible impact on global economies in 2012, with contests for political leadership in many nations—most notably in China, Russia, France, and the U.S, which collectively account for around 40 per cent of world GDP.