Indian households experienced a 14.3% increase in liabilities during 2025, significantly outpacing the 9% growth in gross financial assets, according to the Allianz Global Wealth Report 2026. This divergence resulted in net financial assets rising by only 6.8%, creating pressure on wealth accumulation despite continued savings and investment growth. The report highlights that while households built financial assets, the increase in borrowing absorbed a larger portion of gains, fundamentally altering the balance sheet dynamics. As per Allianz, household liabilities increased 14.3% to $1.59 trillion in 2025, substantially faster than the 9% increase in financial assets, with the divergence making India's balance sheet pattern opposite to the global trend.
The latest Allianz Global Wealth Report 2026 reveals that market gains largely fueled global financial wealth growth, while new household savings fell. Markets accounted for about four-fifths of the increase in global financial wealth in 2025, while fresh savings declined 5.4% to €4.1 trillion. The past three years have been particularly rewarding for risk-taking investors, as securities grew by an average 12.1% annually between 2023 and 2025, compared with 5.2% for bank deposits and 5.9% for insurance and pension assets. In 2025 specifically, the value of securities such as shares, bonds and investment funds held by households rose 12.4%, more than twice the growth in bank deposits (5.7%) and insurance and pension assets (5%).
Gross financial assets held by Indian households increased 9% to $5.3 trillion in 2025, slightly ahead of the global average of 8.6% but below the Asian economies' average of 9.8%, as reported by Allianz. The growth was not uniform across asset classes, with insurance and pensions recording the fastest increase at 11.4%, followed by deposits at 9.8% and securities at 6.1%. Deposits remained the largest component at 40.2% of the portfolio, while securities accounted for 32.7% and life insurance and pension assets comprised 26.7%. This portfolio composition makes India's structure different from markets where households have much greater exposure to shares and other market-linked assets, as highlighted by Allianz.
The report reveals a stark contrast with global trends, where worldwide household financial assets increased 8.6% while liabilities rose only 3.4% to EUR 56.9 trillion, pushing global net financial assets up 10.1% to EUR 211.5 trillion. India experienced the opposite balance-sheet pattern, with liabilities growing faster than assets, highlighting the unique challenges facing Indian households in managing debt accumulation alongside wealth building. The contrast is particularly notable given that globally, securities such as shares, bonds and investment funds increased 12.4% in 2025, compared with 5.7% growth in deposits and 5% in insurance and pension assets, with securities accounting for a record 46.9% of global financial assets.
Despite the one-year slowdown, Indian households demonstrated strong long-term performance with real financial assets 57% higher in 2025 than in 2019, significantly outperforming the Asian countries' real growth of 39.6% and global growth of 22.9%. In 2025 alone, nominal financial asset growth of 9% translated into real growth of 6.7% after accounting for inflation. India's net financial assets per capita stood at $2,539, ranking 49th globally and up 6.8% from the previous year, indicating concentrated wealth distribution. The data emphasizes that while financial assets continue growing, borrowing growth is outpacing asset accumulation, creating challenges for sustainable wealth creation across all household segments.
The report reveals significant wealth concentration, with the richest 10% of Indian households holding 65% of net financial assets in 2025, an increase of 6.8 percentage points since 2005. India's lower securities growth of 6.1% and high 40.2% allocation to deposits meant households were less exposed to the market gains that drove much of the increase in global financial wealth. As noted by Allianz, the composition of savings matters significantly, with the richest 10% of Indian households seeing their share increase by 6.8 percentage points between 2005 and 2025. The data emphasizes that while financial assets continue growing, borrowing growth is outpacing asset accumulation, creating challenges for sustainable wealth creation across all household segments.
