A few months ago I read an article titled on India's tally of crorepatis. It stated that India witnessed a rise in the number of millionaires in FY22 as nearly 131,000 people showed their total income above Rs 1 crore, from around 125,000 a year earlier.
There was also a significant rise in the number of people who declared their income between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore. The data source was attributed to the Finance Ministry.
While the number of rich individuals rise, a survey conducted by Money 9 and the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International (India) tells us that the lower classes are struggling to make ends meet.
About the survey
- Sample Size of 31,510 families.
- Survey was conducted in more than 100 districts, in 10 different languages, covering over 1,154 rural and urban wards, across 20 states or state groups.
- More than 250 questions were asked in a scientific manner, from each family for about 40 minutes. Questions were asked on income, savings, consumption, investment, and debt.
- This survey was done by physically visiting every family.
- The survey was conducted between May and September 2022.
Findings: Income
- The average income of an Indian family of 4.2 persons is Rs 23,000 per month.
- Over 46% of households have an income of less than Rs 15,000 per month
- Only 3% of households have a luxury standard of living and most of them belong to higher income cohorts
Findings: Savings and Investments
- 70% of households do some financial savings in the form of bank deposits, insurance, post office savings and gold.
- The highest penetration is for bank and post office savings, followed by life insurance and gold.
- Over 64% of savings are parked in bank accounts.
- 22% of households invested in stocks, mutual funds, ULIP, physical assets. Investment is in property/land (18%), mutual funds (6%), stock market (3%), and Unit Linked Insurance Plans or ULIPs (3%).
- Only 19% of households have insurance
Findings: Debt
- Only 11% of Indian households have active loans with banks or NBFCs.
- Among all retail loans, the consumption of personal loans is highest, followed by home loans.