Henley Private Wealth Migration Report Reveals Where Millionaires are Moving to and from in 2024
This post was originally published on Henley & Partners here.
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 high-net-worth individuals (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.
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
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.
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. 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.
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.”
Britain pulls the plug on millionaires
The UK is projected 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 HNWIs in 2022.
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 significant net outflow projected.
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 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 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.”
Read the full Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024 online.
