According to the Internet poll being conducted by the magazine, which lists the world’s richest billionaires every year, more than half of respondents believe that India will have the maximum number of billionaires in 2017.

As per the latest Forbes list of world’s billionaires, published last month, India is the fourth largest in the world in terms of billionaires population, while US continues to top the rankings However, according to the online poll on Forbes’ website, where over 11,800 votes were cast at the last count, only 17 per cent of respondents believe that the US would have the most billionaires in 2017.

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In comparison, the maximum — 53 per cent — believe it would be India at the top in terms of number of billionaires. The second highest number of votes has gone in favour of China at 20 per cent, while the US comes at the third position, according to the latest poll data.

None of the other countries has so far managed to garner a vote of more than 10 per cent. Russia comes at fourth position with three per cent, while Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom have one per cent each. So far, virtually no vote has been cast for France having the maximum billionaires in 2017.

The Americans now account for 42 per cent of total 1,125 billionaires in the world, down from 44 per cent last year. Their dominance seems to be diminishing, Forbes noted, saying that half of world’s 20 richest were from the US two years ago.