Dubai: In the race to produce the most number of super-rich residents, it appears India will take much of the limelight in the years to come, with its millionaire population projected to reach 437,000 by 2018. That number is likely to double by 2023, making the Asian country one of the world’s biggest hubs for the ultra wealthy.

In a report released on Wednesday, wealth intelligence experts Wealth-X, said the rise in Indian riches over the past has been astonishing. During that period, more than 50,000 people became new millionaires, whose numbers rose from 196,000 to 250,000, an increase of 27 per cent.

Analysts said India will continue to mint a significant number of new millionaires in the next few years. “We forecast 437,000 millionaires by 2018, and potentially double that number by 2023,” the report said.

Wealth-X attributed the strong growth in private wealth to the emergence of “young, well-educated population with high levels of entrepreneurship and business ownership, underpinned by a well-developed legal system.”

Wealth-X’s report echoed the findings of a separate study by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management, which showed that India’s high-net-worth individual (HNWI) population registered the biggest growth, 26 per cent) between 2013 and 2014.

According to Capgemini’s data, the second-biggest producer of millionaires during the period was China, whose millionaire population grew from 758,000 to 890,000, up 17 per cent.

Kuwait and Taiwan took the third spot in terms of growth, at 12 per cent, although the former has more millionaires (141,000) than the latter (125,000).

Overall, there are at least 14.6 million people who have investable assets of $1 million or more each, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables as of 2014. Their combined wealth reached $56.4 trillion last year.

United States still has the highest number of millionaires, at 4.3 million. Japan is the second-biggest hub, accounting for 2.4 million millionaires, followed by Germany, China, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Italy—all in the top 10.

Top 25 HNWI populations, 2014 (by market)

1. United States: 4.3 million

2. Japan: 2.4 million

3. Germany: 1.1 million

4. China: 890,000

5. United Kingdom: 550,000

6. France: 494,000

7. Switzerland: 343,000

8. Canada: 331,000

9. Australia: 226,000

10. Italy: 219,000

11. India: 198,000

12. Netherlands: 190,000

13. South Korea: 189,000

14. Spain: 178,000

15. Saudi Arabia: 161,000

16. Brazil: 161,000

17. Russia: 155,000

18. Kuwait: 141,000

19. Hong Kong: 138,000

20. Norway: 127,000

21. Mexico: 125,000

22. Taiwan: 125,000

23. Austria: 114,000

24. Argentina: 111,000

25. Singapore: 107,000

Source: Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management