UK set to ‘lose more millionaires’ than any other country
The UK will lose more millionaires than any country in the world this year, a fresh study has claimed, as a combination of punitive tax hikes on wealth and a stubbornly stagnant economy continue to push some of the richest residents abroad.
According to Henley & Partners’ annual Wealth Migration Report, the UK will haemorrhage 16,500 millionaires over the course of 2025, more than double the 7,800 forecast to quit second-placed China, which until this year had topped report’s exit leader board for 10 straight years.
The finding is a steep jump from last year’s study produced by the specialist advisory firm, which forecast the UK would lose 9,500 dollar millionaires in 2024, defined by its authors as anyone with over $1m (£740,500) in liquid investable assets.
The United Arab Emirates is predicted to gain the most high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) this year – luring in an additional 9,800 overall – while the United States and Italy round off the top three countries, attracting 7,500 and 3,600 respectively.
Henley & Partners chief executive said the findings marked a “pivotal moment” for global wealth migration, which was likely to have stark implications for Britain and Europe’s appeal to the world’s most moneyed inhabitants.
“For the first time in a decade of tracking, a European country leads the world in millionaire outflows,” he said. “This isn’t just about changes to the tax regime. It reflects a deepening perception among the wealthy that greater opportunity, freedom, and stability lie elsewhere. The long-term implications for Europe and the UK’s economic competitiveness and investment appeal
are significant.”
The paper will pile further scrutiny on a continuing narrative that the UK is struggling to retain its richest residents, who are swapping Britain for other jurisdictions with more vibrant economies or lower taxes.
The Henley & Partners study also found Britain is poised to lose the highest combined estimated wealth of migrating millionaires, which David Lesperance, founding partner of Lesperance & Associates, said was the most damning economic factor in the data.
“The greater the net worth, the higher the annual tax contribution – along with other economic benefits like employment, consumer spending, investment capital, charitable contribution, VAT, property tax et cetera – that these Golden Geese contribute,” he said.
“When looking at loss of annual tax revenue and other economic benefits when a taxpayer leaves, it is a question of the quantity of their former contribution… that needs to be considered.”
Tax rises driving millionaires away
The government announced a flurry of tax rises in the Autumn Budget, including a hike on capital gains tax, the abolition of the so-called non-dom regime as well as the imposition of VAT on private school fees, which wealth advisers have warned are expediting departures of millionaires and billionaires.
The Chancellor’s decision both to abolish the centuries-old non-dom regime and end former non-doms’ exemption from inheritance tax on foreign-held trusts has triggered a particularly overt backlash. Some studies have estimated that over a quarter of non-doms could eventually leave because of the twin changes. Several high-profile wealthy foreigners have already left, including City grandee Richard Gnodde and Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris.
CityAM understands the Treasury was considering a shortlist of options to dial down more aggressive elements of the policy in an attempt to stem the flow of super-rich emigration, with one option on the table purported to be a reversal of the contentious change to taxing foreign trusts.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has also unveiled its own effort to coax international investors to the UK. Announced on Monday, the contentious scheme – dubbed the ‘Robin Hood’ tax – would charge wealthy foreigners £250,000 for the right to become tax resident in Britain for a decade without their foreign assets being subject to UK taxes. Proceeds from the levy would then go directly into the bank accounts of the 2.5m lowest-paid Brits in employment.