The UK is increasingly becoming a no-go zone for millionaires as record numbers of them leave the country due to a “perfect storm of Brexit fallout, political uncertainty and a controversial overhaul of the tax system for non-residents”.
The newest Report on the migration of private assets predicts that 9,500 millionaires are expected to leave the UK by 2024, more than double the number of millionaires who left last year. The country is the second-largest country after China with the most millionaires leaving the country this year.
The UAE continues to attract millionaires from other countries, luring them with highly attractive features such as Golden Visa, zero income tax and a focus on conspicuous luxury. The region is set to add 6,700 millionaires this year.
Year of Democracy
It’s no surprise that 2024 is likely to be a record year for global millionaire migration. More than two billion people will head to the polls this year, more than ever before, with the consequences that follow.
At the same time, geopolitical volatility is at a generational high, according to the World Economic Forumcreating the urgency to move money around the globe.
In July, the British people will go to the polls to elect a new government. The opposition centre-left Labour Party is the clear favourite to succeed the ruling Conservative Party.
The party is expected to thwart wealth-building opportunities used by the rich, including tax loopholes and the controversial “non-dom” status. It also plans to increase VAT on private school fees.
The Conservatives are also planning to take tougher action against foreigners, which opponents consider a mistake.
“While this may have been a smart policy decision, it was a red flag for the global wealth elite. They saw that the right-of-centre British party was suddenly willing to ignore the rules that applied to them in order to gain short-term political advantage,” said Alec Marsh, editor at wealth management magazine Spear’s.
The United States is preparing for a political shift as Donald Trump faces President Joe Biden in a presidential race later this year.
While Trump may enjoy popularity among the wealthy thanks to his liberal fiscal policies, others have not been able to shake off his last term in office and the legal problems he has had since leaving office.
Speak with Assets March, wealthy Americans explained how they were targeting the European real estate market ahead of the November elections to avoid another Trump presidency.
Inquiries about passports and citizenship proceedings have increased sharply in the past year as U.S. citizens are concerned about the political situation at home, advisers said. Assets.
However, according to Henley, there will probably be around 3,800 millionaires in the US this year. Since 2013, the number of millionaires in the country has increased by 62 percent.
In France, the rich, faced with a showdown between the far left and the far right, fear aggressive tax increases or a waning confidence in public markets, may also seek refuge abroad.
British Exodus
In the UK, the recent record exodus of millionaires is not a politically motivated anomaly, but part of a long-standing trend of wealthy citizens leaving the country.
According to Henley, there are currently 602,500 millionaires in the UK, but since 2013 the country has lost 8 percent of its millionaire population.
“Unfortunately, since the Brexit referendum in 2016, Britain has had the reverse Midas touch and is struggling to maintain its place at the forefront of the attraction of global prosperity,” said Spears’ Marsh.
“During that time, the pound has underperformed, although not as much as the country’s main financial index, the FTSE 100, which until earlier this year was as lackluster as the UK economy as a whole.”