Max Skjönsberg
Reporter
11 July 2012
Daily News Analysis
Wealth held by non-resident Indians rose by more than 9 per cent annually between 2007 and 2011 to $483 billion, new research shows.
VRL Financial News, the intelligence firm behind the research, is forecasting NRI wealth to increase even faster in the coming years and said that it could achieve an annual growth rate of just under 11 per cent until 2016.
The report says that the NRI population stood at 21.6 million in 2011, the world’s second-largest non-resident national population after China. About 170,000 of NRIs are millionaires with average fortunes of $3 million. Moreover, the total wealth of NRI millionaires is expected to increase by 6.9 per cent in 2011-2012, while the NRI population is currently growing by 1 per cent per annum.
The US is home to 51,000 NRI millionaires, accounting for the largest proportion followed by the UK, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia.
The report, South Asia's Wealth Diaspora: Looking Beyond Non-Resident Indians, also found the population of overseas Pakistanis, including non-resident Pakistanis and people of Pakistani origin reached eight million in 2011. Total wealth held by NRPs is $51 billion and there are around 15,000 NRP millionaires. Around 4,200 NRP millionaires live in the UK, the largest proportion, followed by the US, the Persian Gulf countries and Canada.
