Charting the rapid rise of India’s affluent class

The number of "affluent" Indians—those with an annual income of $10,000 (around 8.3 lakh) or more—has grown nearly 12 times faster than the overall population in four years starting 2019 20, according to a Goldman Sachs report released last week. The report estimated that the number of such individuals will top 100 million in just three years’ time if the pace of growth seen in the last four years sustains (the current number is estimated at around 60 million).

However, while the affluent class is growing, its share is currently only 4% of the working age population in India, the report said. Over the last four years, the rise of this group of consumers has been supported by a strong propensity for consumption of discretionary and luxury goods and services and an increase in physical and financial assets.

The Goldman Sachs analysis is based on publicly available data across banking, market investments, tax filings and utility services such as broadband connections. Mint explores the details of the trends observed by the report..