Hurun Global Rich List 2015: India overtakes Russia to claim third spot on billionaires' list

India has overtaken Russia in terms of the number of billionaires in the country, as Western sanctions, lower oil prices and the plunge in the rouble continue to hit Russia's super rich.

According to the Hurun Global Rich List for 2015, India has 97 billionaires, four more than Russia's 93. While India added 27 billionaires last year, 10 Russian billionaires were dropped from the list.

Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian with a fortune of $20bn.

Russia's capital city, Moscow, continued to be the number two city in terms of billionaire density with 73 billionaires, behind New York that has 91.

US topped the list with 537 billionaires, followed by China at 430. Of the 2,089 richest people around the world, almost half of them were from the world's top two economies.

The UK has 80 billionaires and claimed the fifth spot on the list, having added three billionaires last year.

The report noted that the number of billionaires across the world increased by 222, to a record 2,089. There were 649 billionaires, who saw their wealth increase last year, while 869 experienced a decline in their wealth. However, the billionaires' total wealth declined by 1.5% to $6.7tn (£4.4tn, €5.9tn).

Bill Gates is the world's richest man with an $85bn fortune, followed by Carlos Slim at $83bn and Warren Buffet at $76bn.

In China, solar energy tycoon Li Hejun replaced e-commerce giant Alibaba's CEO Jack Ma as the country's richest man with a fortune of $26bn. The founder and chairman of Hanergy Holding Group has seen his global ranking going up 108 notches to reach at No. 28.