Half of India has less than Rs 3.5 lakh to their name, and globally, 90% of people would struggle to survive the loss of a single paycheck. These are the stark warnings from Chennai-based financial planner D Muthukrishnan, who highlights deepening inequality in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, automation and job instability.
In a series of posts, Muthukrishnan blends data with analysis, painting a future where wealth concentration and technological disruption could leave billions more vulnerable, even in the world’s richest nations.
“Even in Switzerland, the top 1% own 43% of the country’s wealth. The top 7% own more than 70%,” Muthukrishnan wrote on X “Inequality is everywhere.”
Despite this, Switzerland remains the world’s wealthiest country by average wealth, with each adult holding an estimated $685,000 (Rs 6 crore). However, median wealth—a more telling measure—is far lower at $167,000 (Rs 1.4 crore), meaning half of Swiss citizens have less than that amount.
Muthukrishnan puts this in a global context, citing the UBS Global Wealth Report 2024: “The median wealth of the world is $8,654. Half of the world owns less than Rs 7.5 lakh. Median wealth in India is roughly $4,000. Half of India owns less than Rs 3.5 lakh.”
Wealth distribution is far more skewed than many realise, he said. While countries such as the United States and Switzerland report high average wealth, their median figures reveal significant disparities. The United States, for example, ranks fourth in average wealth but drops to 14th in median wealth.
“There are rich countries, but very few rich people in the world. Only around 1% of the world’s adult population owns more than $1 million (Rs 8.60 crore),” he noted.
He also offered wealth benchmarks for comparison. Excluding primary residences, individuals with more than ₹90 lakh are wealthier than half of Singapore’s population, while those with over ₹96 lakh are ahead of 50% of Americans.
“If this is the fate of rich countries, less said is better about India,” he added. “Except for maybe the top 10% of the world’s population, 90% cannot survive even losing a single paycheck.”
With AI, automation and robotics reshaping the global economy, Muthukrishnan warns: “The world is in for challenging times.”
PNN
