The UAE is set to attract more new millionaires this year than any other country, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024.
Millionaires from the UK, India, and Africa are being enticed by golden visas, low taxes, a desirable lifestyle, and a strategic location, the report states.
For the third consecutive year, the UAE is poised to become the world’s top destination for wealthy individuals, with a record 6,700 affluent migrants expected to settle in the Emirates by the end of the year.
UAE millionaires
This figure is significantly bolstered by large inflows from the UK and Europe.
The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024, published by investment specialists Henley and Partners, details the net inflows and outflows of millionaires. It defines a millionaire as a high-net-worth individual with liquid investable wealth of $1 million and tracks the number relocating to and emigrating from a country.
The UAE has solidified its position as the leading destination for migrating millionaires and is set to welcome a record net inflow of 6,700 this year.
According to Henley and Partners, the UAE attracts millionaires with its zero income tax, golden visas, luxury lifestyle, and strategic location.
With steady high inflows from India, the Middle East, Russia, and Africa, the expected increase in arrivals from the UK and Europe means the Emirates are likely to attract nearly twice as many millionaires as its closest competitor, the US, which is projected to see a net inflow of 3,800 millionaires in 2024.
Sunita Singh-Dalal, Partner leading Private Wealth and Family Offices at Hourani in Dubai, stated: “The development of the UAE’s wealth management ecosystem is remarkable. In under five years, the UAE has established a robust regulatory framework offering the wealthy a range of innovative solutions to protect, preserve, and enhance their wealth.”
Singapore remains in third place with net inflows of 3,500, while popular destinations for migrating millionaires, Canada and Australia, follow in fourth and fifth places with net inflows of 3,200 and 2,500, respectively.
10 countries with most millionaire incoming migration in 2024:
- UAE: +6,700
- USA: +3,800
- Singapore: +3,500
- Canada: +3,200
- Australia: +2,500
- Italy: +2,200
- Switzerland: +1,500
- Greece: +1,200
- Portugal: +800
- Japan: +400
Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth, highlights the significant and wide-ranging benefits of this migration of wealth and talent to destination countries.
He stated: “Migrating millionaires are a crucial source of foreign exchange revenue as they tend to bring their money with them. Additionally, about 20 per cent of them are entrepreneurs and company founders who may start new businesses, creating local jobs in their new country, with this percentage rising to over 60 per cent for centi-millionaires and billionaires.”
The UK is expected to experience an unprecedented net loss of 9,500 millionaires in 2024, second only to China globally, and more than double the 4,200 who left last year, which was itself a record-breaking figure following the exodus of 1,600 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in 2022.
China is again set to be the largest net loser of millionaires worldwide, with an anticipated net exit of 15,200 HNWIs this year (compared to 13,800 in 2023). India has curbed its wealth exodus, dropping to 3rd place after the UK with just 4,300 millionaires expected to leave in 2024 (compared to 5,100 last year).
South Korea’s millionaire exodus is expected to rise, with a forecast loss of 1,200 millionaires (compared to 800 in 2023). Meanwhile, the wave of millionaires fleeing Russia following the Ukraine war seems to be subsiding, with only 1,000 projected to relocate this year (compared to 8,500 in 2022 and 2,800 in 2023).
Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, stated that 2024 is shaping up to be a pivotal year in the global migration of wealth. “An unprecedented 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate worldwide this year, surpassing the previous record of 120,000 set in 2023.”
Traditionally, the UK, particularly London, has been viewed as a top destination for migrating millionaires, consistently attracting large numbers of wealthy families from mainland Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East from the 1950s to the early 2000s.
However, this trend began to reverse about a decade ago as more millionaires started leaving the country and fewer arrived.
Notably, between 2017 and 2023, following Brexit, the UK lost a total of 16,500 millionaires to migration. Provisional estimates for 2024 are even more concerning, with a massive net outflow of 9,500 millionaires projected for this year alone.
