Millionaires On The Move: Where Are The World’s Wealthy Migrating To And From In 2024?

London, Tuesday 18 June 2024

The UK is expected to see an unprecedented net loss of 9,500 millionaires in 2024 — second only to China worldwide, and more than double the 4,200 who left the country last year, which was itself record-breaking following the exodus of 1,600 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in 2022. For the third year running, the UAE looks set to take first place as the world’s leading wealth magnet, with a record-breaking 6,700 moneyed migrants expected to make the Emirates home by the end of the year, significantly boosted by large inflows from the UK and Europe.

The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024, released today by international investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners, exclusively features the latest net inflows and outflows of millionaires (namely, the difference between the number of HNWIs with liquid investable wealth of USD 1 million or more who relocate to and the number who emigrate from a country) as projected by global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth, which has been tracking wealth migration trends for over a decade. Note: All figures and projections are rounded to the nearest 100.

China is again on track to be the biggest millionaire loser globally, with an anticipated net exit of 15,200 HNWIs this year (compared to 13,800 in 2023) whereas India has stemmed its wealth exodus, dropping down to 3rd place after the UK with just 4,300 millionaires projected to leave the country in 2024 (compared to 5,100 last year). South Korea’s HNWI flight is expected to rise with a forecast loss of 1,200 millionaires (compared to 800 in 2023) while the tsunami of millionaires that fled Russia following the outbreak of the Ukraine war appears to be abating with only 1,000 projected to relocate this year (compared to 8,500 in 2022 and 2,800 in 2023).

Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, says 2024 is shaping up to be a watershed moment in the global migration of wealth. “An unprecedented 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate worldwide this year, eclipsing the previous record of 120,000 set in 2023. As the world grapples with a perfect storm of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and social upheaval, millionaires are voting with their feet in record numbers. In many respects, this great millionaire migration is a leading indicator, signaling a profound shift in the global landscape and the tectonic plates of wealth and power, with far-reaching implications for the future trajectory of the nations they leave behind or those which they make their new home.”

UAE remains world’s leading millionaire magnet

With its zero income tax, golden visas, luxury lifestyle, and strategic location, the UAE has entrenched itself as the world’s number one destination for migrating millionaires and is poised to welcome a record net inflow of 6,700 this year alone. With consistent high inflows from India, the wider Middle East region, Russia, and Africa, the anticipated influx of larger numbers of Brits and Europeans looks set to see the Emirates attract nearly twice as many millionaires as its nearest rival, the US, which is projected to benefit from a net inflow of 3,800 millionaires in 2024.

As Sunita Singh-Dalal, Partner leading the Private Wealth & Family Offices at Hourani in Dubai points out in the report, “the evolution and development of the UAE’s wealth management ecosystem is unprecedented. In less than 5 years, the UAE has introduced a robust regulatory framework that provides the wealthy with a range of innovative solutions to protect, preserve and enhance their wealth.”

Singapore takes 3rd prize again this year with net inflows of 3,500, while the perennially popular destinations for migrating millionaires, Canada and Australia, follow in 4th and 5th places with net inflows of 3,200 and 2,500, respectively. European favorites Italy (+2,200), Switzerland (+1,500), Greece (+1,200) and Portugal (+800) all make it into this year’s Top 10 for net millionaire inflows along with Japan, which is on course to welcome 400 wealthy migrants, boosted in part by an accelerating trend of Chinese HNWIs moving to Tokyo that started post-Covid.

Head of Research at New World Wealth, Andrew Amoils, says the benefits of this migration of wealth and talent to these destination countries are significant and wide ranging. “Migrating millionaires are a vital source of forex revenue as they tend to bring their money with them when they move to a country. Also, around 20% of them are entrepreneurs and company founders who may start new businesses and therefore create local jobs in their new country, and this percentage rises to over 60% for centi-millionaires and billionaires.”

In a reversal of fortunes, the report also reveals that Israel has dropped out of the top inflows list for the first time. This represents a major turnabout as Israel has been ranked among the Top 10 destinations for migrating millionaires for several decades. Dan Marconi, Senior Client Advisor at Henley & Partners Israel says, “this seismic shift underscores how swiftly conflict can unravel a country’s appeal to the world’s wealthy and globally mobile. The ongoing war has not only shattered Israel’s image as a safe haven but also threatened to overshadow its economic achievement.”

Britain pulls the plug on millionaires

The UK, and London especially, has traditionally been seen as one of the world’s top destinations for migrating millionaires and for many years (from the 1950s to early 2000s) it consistently attracted large numbers of wealthy families from mainland Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. However, this trend began to reverse around a decade ago as more millionaires began to leave the country and fewer came in. Notably, during the six-year period from 2017 to 2023 post Brexit, the UK lost a total of 16,500 millionaires to migration. Provisional estimates for 2024 are even more concerning, with a massive net outflow of 9,500 millionaires projected for this year alone.

Commenting in the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024, Dr. Hannah White OBE, Director and CEO of the independent think tank the Institute for Government in London, says “the outflow already generated by the economic and political turmoil in Britain risks being accelerated by further unwelcome policy decisions ahead of the election. On top of the 40% duty already imposed on estates above a GBP 325,000 threshold, the Conservative government has adopted the thrust of the Labour opposition’s policy of ending the UK’s non-dom tax regime from 2025. And for those educating their children in the UK’s well-regarded private school sector, Labour’s commitment to remove their exemption from 20% VAT is a further unwelcome development.”

Spear’s Contributing Editor Alec Marsh agrees, saying “even before the starting gun was fired on July 4’s general election, it’s apparent that the wealthy in Britain are already voting with their feet. The writing was on the wall well before Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, sought to take the wind from the sails of the Labour opposition by announcing in March that he would be scrapping Britain’s 225-year-old non-dom tax regime, which allows those with extensive wealth overseas not to be taxed on it in the UK. While it may have been clever politics, it was a red flag for the global wealthy elite, who saw Britain’s right-of-center party suddenly prepared to play fast and loose with the established rules affecting them for short-term political gain.”

According to the W15 ranking of the world’s top 15 countries for millionaires published in the report, the number of millionaires in the UK has dropped by 8% over the past decade — while soaring elsewhere. In Germany, the HNWI population has increased by 15% over the last 10 years, in France it’s up 14%, while the number has risen by 35% in Australia, 29% in Canada, and an astonishing 62% in the USA. These growth rates are of course a product of several factors including new business formation, local stock market gains and prime property trends in each country, with millionaire migration also being a significant contributing factor, especially in the case of the Safe Haven 8.

The other big millionaire losers in 2024

Besides China, the UK, India, South Korea, and Russia, the remaining places in the Top 10 millionaire outflow ranking are taken up by Brazil where a millionaire drain of 800 is projected this year, followed by South Africa (-600), Taiwan (-400), and Vietnam and Nigeria, which are both set to see 300 millionaires take flight.

But as Dr. White points out, HNWIs are leaving these other countries for quite different reasons from the UK. “Both China and India are seeing high net outflows because of the success of their sizeable economies in generating new millionaires, although slowing wealth growth in China in recent years could mean sustained losses become more damaging over time. As do those from many other developing nations, including notably Brazil, Vietnam, South Africa, and Nigeria, Indian millionaires often depart the sub-continent in search of a better lifestyle, safer and cleaner environments, and access to more premium health and education services. Elsewhere, regional threats and uncertainty over the security stance of America following a potential Trump victory in the 2024 US presidential election in November mean that South Korea and Taiwan are continuing to see net outflows of HNWIs.”

Award-winning journalist and Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, Misha Glenny, says “figures detailing the growth of centi-millionaires and billionaires over the past decade confirm a broader economic pattern across the globe: the growth of Asia and the relative decline of Europe. China, India, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam have all registered a huge relative increase in their number of high-net-worth individuals — we can be confident this trend will continue as intra-Asian growth continues to surge.”

Prof. Trevor Williams, former Chief Economist at Lloyds Bank Commercial, agrees, saying “wealth growth is unevenly distributed, with developing and emerging economies forecast to grow at over 4% over the next 5 years — more than twice the rate of the advanced economies. That has enormous implications for the future growth and distribution of millionaires and billionaires worldwide. Many countries from the so-called developing world are seeing a significant increase in their ultra-high-net-worth individual populations.”

The megatrend of investment migration

The surge in millionaire migration is fueling a corresponding boom in the investment migration sector. Henley & Partners has received record levels of enquiries about residence and citizenship by investment programs over the past 12 months from nearly 200 different countries. The top two nationalities currently driving demand are Americans and Indians, with Brits, Filipinos, and South Africans remaining in the Top 10 as they have done for the last five years.

As for the most sought-after residence programs enquired about by Henley & Partners’ clients, Portugal’s Golden Residence Permit Program remains a popular choice in 2024 despite ending its real-estate linked investment option, as are Greece’s Golden Visa Program and Spain’s Residence by Investment Program. In terms of citizenship options, Malta’s Citizenship by Naturalisation for Exceptional Services by Direct Investment, which allows for the granting of citizenship by a certificate of naturalization to foreign individuals and their families who contribute to the country’s economic development, is a perennial favorite. And in the Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment Program and Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Program continue to attract affluent global citizens and their families.

As Volek concludes in the report, “the countries with the greatest growth in high-net-worth individuals continue to be those who have prioritized policies designed to entice millionaires to their shores — nine of the Top 10 countries attracting the most millionaires in 2024 have formal investment migration programs and actively encourage foreign direct investment in return for residence or citizenship rights.”

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