HNW Exodus From UK Expected

An “unprecedented” number of high net worth individuals are expected to leave the UK this year, reports Abode2.

According to analysis by international investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners, the firm expects 9,500 HNWIs to move out of Britain in 2024; that’s more than double the 4,200 that left last year (itself a record figure), and is the highest “millionaire outflow” of any country except China.

At the other end of the table, the UAE is positioned as “the world’s leading wealth magnet” for the third year running. Some 6,700 moneyed migrants are expected to make the Emirates home in 2024 – significantly boosted by large inflows from the UK and Europe.

In total, 128,000 HNWIs are likely to relocate internationally this year, prompting Henley’s Head of Private Clients, Dominic Volek, to declare that 2024 “is shaping up to be a watershed moment in the global migration of wealth.”

These numbers are based on estimates of net national inflows and outflows of people with liquid investable wealth of at least US$1mn, as drawn-up by research house New World Wealth.

China is again on track to be the biggest millionaire loser globally in 2024, with an anticipated net exit of 15,200 HNWIs this year (compared to 13,800 in 2023). India appears to have stemmed its wealth exodus, dropping down to third place – after the UK – with 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). And in Russia, Henley says the “tsunami of millionaires that fled” Putin’s regime 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).

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, signalling 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.