Guests are seen at the J Hotel at Shanghai Tower in Shanghai on June 23, 2021.
Hector Retamal | Afp | Getty Images
China, with the world’s second-largest economy and second-largest population, will once again experience the largest exodus of millionaires this year, according to new research.
This is according to a report by a consulting company for investment migration Henley & PartnersChina is expected to lose the largest number of dollar millionaires to migration this year compared to any other country.
The company’s data showed that a net 10,800 high net worth individuals migrated from China in 2022, and another 13,500 are expected to leave this year.
This is not a problem that started with the coronavirus pandemic and has been going on for the past 10 years. China has seen the biggest exodus of millionaires every year for the past decade, causing the country’s overall wealth growth to slow, said Andrew Amoils, head of research at global intelligence firm New World Wealth, which helped produce the report. declaration.
“Recent outflows could be more damaging than usual. China’s economy grew strongly from 2000 to 2017, but the growth of the country’s wealth and millionaires since then has been negligible (measured in US dollars).”
Another big loser
After China, Henley & Partners predicts that India will lose a net 6,500 millionaires this year, a net decline of 1,000 from millionaires who left the country in 2022.
“Prohibitive tax legislation along with convoluted, complex rules on outbound remittances that are open to misinterpretation and abuse are just some of the issues that have triggered the trend of investment migration out of India,” said Sunita Singh-Dalal, Private Wealth and Family Office Partner at Hourani Law Firm, in the same report.
But Amoils stressed that these outflows should not be a cause for concern because “India is producing far more new millionaires than it is losing through migration.”
Other Asian nations are also expected to see millionaires leave their countries.
Hong Kong is expected to lose a net 1,000 millionaires this year, and South Korea and Japan could lose 800 and 300 respectively. Reports suggest that Hong Kong residents left the city in droves last year — due to Covid-19 restrictions and what they see as an erosion of democratic norms.
Despite political turmoil and economic uncertainty from Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Russia is expected to lose just 3,000 millionaires this year, down sharply from 8,500 in 2022.
Russia ranks fourth in Henley & Partners’ ranking after the UK, which could lose 3,200 millionaires this year, double what it lost the year before.
“Brexit has made the UK less hospitable and welcoming to high net worth individuals. It is now harder for them to move between the UK and EU countries,” Trevor Williams, visiting professor at the University of Derby and former chief economist at Lloyds Bank. Commercial said in a report.
“Evidence shows that the UK’s share of inward investment in Europe has fallen since it left the EU, benefiting Germany and France.”
Eyes on these lands
Australia could overtake the United Arab Emirates to welcome the highest number of net millionaires this year. Australia is expected to see an influx of a net 5,200 millionaires, while the United Arab Emirates is second with 4,500. Singapore is third and could see a net 3,200 millionaires set up home in the city-state.
Western countries as a whole remain an attractive destination for millionaires, according to the research, with the US (2,100), Switzerland (1,800) and Canada (1,600) rounding out the top ten.
“Millionaire migration has grown steadily over the past decade, with the global figures for 2023 and 2024 expected to be 122,000 and 128,000 respectively,” said Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners.