In first-of-a-kind survey launched by Nielsen, some very Interesting statistics have been revealed about certain Lifestyle habits of affluent Indians.
The Nielsen Upper Middle and Rich (UMAR) survey looks at Rich Indian’s Media consumption habits, their gym memberships, shopping habits frequency of spends, and consumption of various FMCG categories.
Who are Affluent Indians?
The survey looked at various parameters such as employment of domestic help (maid/driver, holiday trips abroad, dining out habits, Laptop/Desktop ownership, Air-Conditioner, Car, Television, Microwave, Washing Machine, and number of family members with internet connection at home and the type of connection used.
Based on above parameters, there are total of 25 Lakh affluent households in India, out of which
The UMAR Survey also released its list of top 10 most richest cities in India. Now, I had published a list few days back listing down the top 10 richest cities in India, however they were purely based on income of people living in that city. Whereas, this list defines ‘affluence’ based on lifestyle and consumer durables’ ownership of a household rather than monthly income, education, etc.
The Top 10 Affluent cities in India
- Delhi
- Bengaluru
- Greater Mumbai
- Chennai
- Hyderabad
- Kolkata
- Kochi
- Pune
- Jaipur
- Ahmedabad
Here are some highlights of Affluent Indians:
- Six in ten affluent households are nuclear families.
- 25% affluent households have elders at home
- More than 50% of the households have more than one earning member
- 90% affluent individuals own a house
- 75% of them have a fully automated washing machine
- 40% affluent individuals have a home theatre and modular kitchen
- English is their preferred language for Newspaper
- Television is consumed more in regional languages
- 90% affluent individuals watch Television and nearly 75% read English Dailies
- More than 60% watch movies outside home
- More than 50% use Internet at home
- More than 60% individuals do not read magazines
- 30% affluent individuals visit a parlour or spa once a month.
- 80% of affluent individuals go out for meals frequently
- 90% shop at Modern Retail stores and Shopping Malls.
Interestingly the survey states that economic slowdown has not impacted the spending habits of affluent individuals.
What I found really interesting was that although English is the preferred newspaper consumption language, affluent Indians watch Tele more in their Local languages :)
Some great insights there…
“1 Lakh belong to the Rich households, who are owners of a car, a computer, an LCD, and also a holiday abroad”
Flawed process of assessing a “rich” household: There are enough extremely-rich households in the country whose family members have never travelled abroad! LCDs are still a recent phenomenon and there is the question of penetration – many households have bought multiple large screen CRT televisions and just would not care to upgrade so that they are included in the “results” of this survey!
The real number of rich households lies somewhere between 1 lakh and 22 lakhs. The survey here represents the number of affluent tech-savvy and travel-interested families in the country and could also include highly mobile high-income employees of corporates – they are not necessarily rich – just good consumers!
Raj
I do not live in India but am studying the different levels in Indian society, so found this post very useful. The most interesting thing for me was the availability of the Internet, or lack of, for Indians. There is a long way to go, but we all know it will get there in the end.
There’s a report from Indicus Analytics comparing district level GDP from 2007.
http://www.slideshare.net/siddutta/district-gdp-of-india-presentation
According to that report, the top 3 markets in the country in terms of per-capita GDP are Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban and Chandigarh.
Their data inputs seem to be more comprehensive than an ownership survey.
More than 50% use Internet at home — This stat shows yet again that internet’s penetration is India has been really sluggish!
Only 1 lakh Indians have traveled abroad for a holiday? Not sure if that can be right…
Hard to believe the numbers. Accounts for 1% of Indian population only. I would guess that there are sure more who own a car and a computer/LCD. Beats me.
Hello Arun Sir
Great blog post. Read your interview on blogadda and liked it.
I always used to wonder how people are categorized as affluent Indians, upper middle class, etc. I just could not find the criteria for this categorization.
Very informative post :)