Britain is on track to lose a record 16,500 millionaires this year amid rising taxes and a crackdown on non-dom residents, a report suggests.
The exodus is part of a “historic wave of wealth migration”, with numerous countries competing with the UK for capital.
According to the latest Henley Private Wealth Migration Report, around 142,000 millionaires worldwide will relocate to a new country this year.
The migration consultancy’s study, which analyses trends among people with liquid assets of more than $1 million (£740,000), predicts that Britain will lose twice as many high net worth individuals as China and ten times as many as Russia in 2025.
Research by Henley & Partners published last month claimed that London lost 11,300 dollar millionaires in just 12 months.
Dr Juerg Steffen, Henley & Partners’ chief executive, said that Britain had emerged as “a cautionary tale in this new era of wealth migration”.
He estimates that those leaving the UK this year would collectively hold £66 billion in investable assets such as stocks and real estate.
Dr Steffen told The Times: “This unprecedented outflow follows an already record-breaking year in 2024, when 10,800 affluent residents departed in search of greener pastures — compounding the mounting capital drain that began with Brexit.
“Prior to 2016, the UK had always attracted more millionaires than it lost to migration.”
Dr Steffen emphasised that Britain’s wealth outflow had been “years in the making”.
But Dr Steffen revealed that the Conservative government ending the gold-plated tier 1 visa scheme for investors in 2022, as well as removing tax breaks for non-domiciles in 2024, had accelerated the trend.
He also said that Labour’s plans to levy inheritance tax on wealthy foreigners “triggered a sharp escalation, pushing net millionaire departures into double digits for the first time”.
French heiress Anne Beaufour and sports promoter Eddie Hearn are among the names reported to have relocated in recent months. Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is also believed to be considering a move overseas.
The scale of the exodus appears to have raised concerns in the Treasury, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves reportedly mulling a U-turn on the decision to tax non-doms inheritance tax based on their global assets.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, who lead Labour in the latest YouGov poll by nine points, have also announced plans to introduce a “Britannia Card” that will offer non-doms the chance to pay a one-off £250,000 fee to shield their global earnings from tax, with the proceeds going directly to the poorest 10 per cent of UK earners.
However, the report notes that the UK remains “a desirable destination for high net worth individuals”, particularly Americans disenchanted with Donald Trump.
Britain is not alone in its struggle to hold on to wealthy residents, with France, Spain and Germany expected to see a combined net loss of 1,700 high net worth individuals this year.
The United Arab Emirates is set to see the biggest influx of wealth this year, adding a net 9,800 millionaires due to its low tax, high-quality lifestyle and political stability.
Dr Steffen said that the UAE, which includes Abu Dhabi and Dubai, “treats capital as partner rather than prey has created a compelling proposition”.
Other top migration destinations for those leaving Britain include the United States, Italy and Switzerland.
