India's richest 1% has highest concentration of wealth in decades, study shows (2024)

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India's richest 1% has highest concentration of wealth in decades, study shows? ›

By the end of 2023, India's richest citizens owned 40.1% of the country's wealth, the highest since 1961, and their share of total income was 22.6%, the most since 1922, the study, whose four authors included Nitin Kumar Bharti and Thomas Piketty, found.

India's wealthiest 1 per cent now hold the highest concentration of wealth in over six decades, according to a recent study by the World Inequality Lab. This report reveals that a small fraction of the population holds a much larger portion of the country's wealth.

The 10,000 wealthiest individuals of the 92 million Indian adults own an average of 22.6 billion rupees ($271.91 million) in wealth, 16,763 times the country's average, while the top 1 per cent possessing an average of 54 million in wealth.

The top 1 per cent of India's 92 million adults own an average of 54 million rupees ($873,000) in wealth. Of this group, the 10,000 wealthiest individuals possess an average of 22.6 billion rupees in wealth – 16,763 times the country's average.

The Widening Wealth Gap

The net worth of the top 1% of American households rose steadily through the second half of the 20th century and beyond, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The wealthiest 1% in the U.S. had net worths equal to about 125 times that of the average American household in 1962.

In the U.S., it may take you $5.81 million to be in the top 1%, but it takes a minimum net worth of $30 million to be considered among the ultra-high net worth crowd. As of the end of 2023, this ultra-high net worth population is on the rise, reaching 626,000 globally, up from just over 600,000 a year earlier.

In 2022-23, 22.6% of national income went to just the top 1%, the highest level recorded in our series since 1922, higher than even during the inter-war colonial period. The top 1% wealth share stood at 40.1% in 2022- 23, also at its highest level since 1961 when our wealth series begins.

Mukesh Ambani the chairman and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries, has been the richest Indian for 14 consecutive years.

NEW DELHI, March 20 (Reuters) - The wealth concentrated in the richest 1% of India's population is at its highest in six decades and the percentage share of income exceeds that of countries including Brazil and the United States, research group the World Inequality Lab found.

That means the sweet spot in India could be about R24 lakh per annum or R2 lakh a month. That could go up every year with inflation. You cannot use all of the money for living life and spending. Even when you get to that stage, you must continue investing to counter inflation.

What is considered top 1% wealth? ›

The top 1% is a byword for wealth — and it's only gotten harder to become among the nation's top earners. Nationally, it now requires annual income of at least $787,712 to be among the top 1%, a 20% increase from last year, according to SmartAsset's analysis of IRS data.

A household income of above 30 LPA is generally considered rich in India as per many studies in this field.

The 1% Club is helping people achieve Financial Independence with a community of over 60,000+ lifetime members. It is co-founded by Sharan Hegde (aka Finance with Sharan) and Raghav Gupta (co-founder and CEO at Futurense Technology).

According to the latest findings from the 18th edition of the Wealth Report by Douglas Elliman and Knight Frank, a person needs $5.8 million to be considered in the wealthiest 1% — a figure that, while substantial, is a far cry from the billionaire benchmark. Don't Miss: Are you rich?

Not Yet, But We'll See One Soon. A trillion dollars is a phenomenal sum of money, equivalent to 1,000 billion dollars.

New York City. The Big Apple is home to 340,000 millionaires, 724 centi-millionaires, and 58 billionaires. It is the financial center of the USA and the wealthiest city in the world by several measures.

Between 1st and 17th centuries AD, India is estimated to have had the largest economy of the ancient and medieval world, controlling between one third and one fourth of the world's wealth. During the Mughal period (1526–1858 AD) India experienced unprecedeneted prosperity in history.

Federal Reserve data indicates that as of Q4 2021, the top 1% of households in the United States held 30.9% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held 2.6%.