India, China to rise in ranks as wealth centers by 2017: Report

The UK-based bank said emerging markets like India, Russia and China are fast catching up with their richer cousins in terms of wealth.

In 2007, G7 nations Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US had more than one million millionaire households, the report 'Evolving Fortunes,' the fifth installment of an influential series 'Barclays Wealth Insights' launched in December 2006, said.

While the US is expected to continue to dominate the Household Wealth Index, followed by Japan, China, the UK, Germany, France and Italy, "Over the coming decade, the gap in wealth between the world's most developed countries and the leading emerging markets will continue to narrow with many new millionaires being created in India, China, Russia and other countries which are undergoing rapid development," the report said.

"At the same time, the continuing economic dominance of the world's established powerhouses can no longer be taken for granted. This shift in the balance of power is already well under way, as can be seen from the way in which countries such as China, India and the Gulf nations are being relied upon to sustain the momentum of the global economy as developed countries in North America and Europe start to run out of steam," it added.

The report said the total wealth held by Indian millionaires, which would rise to 4,11,000 by 2017, would be $1.7 trillion.

In comparison, China will have around 4,09,000 millionaires by 2017 with an aggregate wealth of $795.4 billion.

In India, around 1.9 million households (mass affluent category) will have $500,000 each while 29 million households will have $100,000 each, the report said.

Traditionally, Indians invest most of their savings in physical assets like real estate and gold. However, that is soon going to change. "We are seeing a cultural change driving attitudes towards wealth in India. Composition of assets of wealthy Indians is increasingly shifting from physical assets to financial assets," Satya Bansal, CEO, Barclays Wealth, India, said.

"We foresee huge potential in the creation of financial assets, as real estate and gold still account for more than half of the household wealth in the country," he said.