India may lose 4,300 millionaires this year: Henley’s

India appears to have reduced the exodus of its millionaires, with fewer rich people projected to leave the country than last year, according to Henley’s private wealth migration report.

This year, about 4,300 millionaires are projected to leave the country when compared with 5,100 last year, the report pointed out.

Millionaires and high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) are individuals with liquid investable wealth of $1 million or more.

India has dropped a spot from last year to third place after the United Kingdom in a list led by China.

This year, China is estimated to lose 15,200 HNWIs, up from 13,800 last year, while UK may see about 9,500 millionaires leaving the country, which is more than twice the 4,200 millionaires who left the UK in 2023.

South Korea’s HNWI flight is expected to increase, with a forecast loss of 1,200 millionaires compared to 800 in 2023.

To be sure, the rush of millionaires fleeing Russia following the Ukraine war appears to be abating, with only 1,000 projected to relocate this year against 8,500 in 2022 and 2,800 in 2023.

Hannah White, director and CEO of the independent think tank the Institute for Government in London, said HNWIs are leaving these other countries for entirely 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,” White said.

Indian millionaires often leave in search of a better lifestyle, safer and cleaner environment, and access to more premium health and education services, White added.

Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley and Partners, said 2024 is shaping up to be a watershed moment in the global wealth migration.

“An unprecedented 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate worldwide this year, eclipsing the previous record of 120,000 set in 2023,” Volek said.

He added that “this great millionaire migration” is a leading indicator in many respects, “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 they make their new home.”

Trevor Williams, former chief economist at Lloyds Bank Commercial, said, “Wealth growth is unevenly distributed, with developing and emerging economies forecast to grow at over 4% over the next five 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.”

UAE top magnet for migrants

Meanwhile, among the countries witnessing an inflow of millionaires, the UAE remains an attractive destination for millionaire migrants for the third consecutive year. It expects to welcome 6,700 affluent newcomers by the end of the year.

This year, 128,000 millionaires are projected to migrate globally, and the UAE sits atop the table of the Top 10 countries set to see the highest net inflows, with a projected 6,700 net inflow by the end of the year. This is a new record after the net 4,700 who arrived in the Emirates last year.

UAE enjoys consistently high inflows from India, the broader Middle East region, Russia, and Africa.

Sunita Singh-Dalal, partner leading the private wealth and family offices at Hourani in Dubai, said the evolution and development of the UAE’s wealth management ecosystem are unprecedented.

In less than five years, the UAE has introduced a robust regulatory framework that provides the wealthy with various innovative solutions to protect, preserve, and enhance their wealth, she said.

Indian private banks and wealth management firms are actively expanding investment advisory services into the UAE.

Each year, Henley focuses on movement of millionaires by estimating the number of wealthy individuals moving into and out of countries based on projections by global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth, which has been tracking wealth migration trends for over a decade.