India's billionaire population fourth highest; US on top

New York, Mar 3: India is home to the fourth largest number of billionaires across the world, while the US tops the charts followed by China and Germany.

However, only five Indians figure among the 100 wealthiest across the world, according to the latest Forbes rich list for 2015.

The number of Indian billionaires has increased to 90 with a total wealth of USD 294 billion, registering a significant jump over last year when there were 56 billionaires with a collective networth of USD 191.5 billion. In comparison, the US has as many as 536 billionaires, followed by 213 from China and 103 from Germany.

Meanwhile, the ranks of the world's wealthiest defied global economic turmoil and expanded yet again despite plunging oil prices and a weakened euro.

There were a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate networth of USD 7.05 trillion, up from USD 6.4 trillion a year ago, according to Forbes.

The total number of world's billionaires includes 290 newcomers, 71 of whom hail from China. Youth are on the rise as a record 46 among the ranks are under 40 years. Meanwhile, the average networth of list members came in at USD 3.86 billion, down USD 60 million from 2014.

Among the BRIC countries India is home to the second largest number of billionaires after China. China had 213 super rich people, worth USD 565 billion, followed by India (90, USD 294 billion), Brazil (54, USD 181 billion) and Russia (88, USD 337 billion).

"The country that was lost the most ground by far was Russia, which now has 88 billionaires down from 111, less than not just the U.S. and China but now also Germany and India," Forbes said.

Moreover, five Indian women have made it to the Forbes list of the world's billionaires that saw a record number of women this year. The number of Indian women in this year's list witnessed an increase over last year, when only two Indian women were included on the Forbes billionaire list.

PTI