Wealth has surged in India, tripling over the last decade, says a new report released by investment bank Credit Suisse. It also added that most Indians may almost double their assets over the next five years.

“The total wealth of India has tripled in a decade to $3.5 trillion and by 2015, based on current trends, India’s wealth could nearly double to USD 6.4 trillion,” says the report titled ‘Global Wealth.’

The report was released by Credit Suisse Research Institute based in Zurich. The Global Wealth Report is based on data as of mid-2010 across more than 200 countries.

The report also pointed out that India has still to catch countries like the US ($54.6 trillion), Japan ($21.0 trillion) and China ($16.5 trillion) far ahead in terms of wealth. China’s wealth is almost five times that of India’s.

The report also mentioned that wealth in India is distributed very disproportionately. “Only 0.4 per cent of the adult population owns more than $1,00,000 on average,” the report noted.

However, it also predicted that if the current growth rate continues in India, the number of rich people will only grow. India is growing at 8.5 percent as per official records, also shared by Asian Development Bank report released recently. But IMF has projected to India to grow at 9.7 percent in 2010.

The number of billionaires stood at over 1,000, the report said. “North America accounted for the highest number of billionaires at 500, followed by Asia Pacific with 245 billionaires and Europe with 230.”

In total, almost 60 percent of individuals in the middle segment of the wealth pyramid are located in Asia-Pacific. “The report confirms that Asia-Pacific countries, which now make up the bulk of the world's middle class of emerging consumers, are driving the growth of the world's wealth,” said Osama Abbasi, CEO, Asia-Pacific, Credit Suisse.

In the decade from 2000-10, the report finds that the global wealth currently held by 4.4 billion adults has increased 72 percent to reach $195 trillion. According to the report, “Driven by robust economic expansion in the emerging markets, the Institute estimates that global wealth will grow 61 percent to $315 trillion by 2015.”

Read the report