According to the M3M Hurun Global Rich List 2023 published on Wednesday, the wealth of 41 Indian billionaires decreased by over a billion dollars in the past year, resulting in a total loss of $122.7 billion.
The report also stated that the world lost five billionaires per week in 2022, leading to a decrease of about 10% of global wealth, amounting to approximately $13.7 trillion.
India was placed third on the list, after China and the United States, whose respective 178 and 123 billionaires also experienced a loss of more than $1 billion compared to the previous year.
Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher at Hurun India, explained that global economic factors such as interest rate hikes, the appreciation of the US dollar against the Indian rupee, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war had a significant impact on the decline of India’s wealth.
He also added that India is one of the top three countries producing billionaires in the world, and the effects of global headwinds have naturally affected the country’s wealth creation.
However, Junaid believes that if the inflation cycle is contained and the war ends, India’s wealth creation could accelerate to regain lost ground.
The report also highlighted that India added 16 new billionaires this year, securing its third-place ranking ahead of Italy, which added only 9 billionaires.
The richest new Indian entrant, Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, widow of Indian stock market giant Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who passed away last year, ranks first among the top 16 new Indian entrants on the list.
