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LONDON – A record number of millionaires are expected to leave Britain this year, according to new research, with this year’s general election expected to increase the exodus.
The Henley Personal Wealth Migration Report shows that the UK will experience a net loss of 9,500 high-net-worth individuals by 2024 – more than double last year’s 4,200 (which was a record high).
The UK is second only to China in the Henley rankings, with the east Asian giant expecting an outflow of 15,200 millionaires by 2024.
The projections mark a marked change for the UK, once considered a prime location for the world’s wealthiest people. Henley, a consultancy that tracks migration trends, notes that between the 1950s and the early 2000s, the country saw many wealthy families move to its shores from mainland Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
“However, this trend began to reverse about a decade ago as more millionaires began to leave the country and fewer entered,” he said in the report.
“Notably, during the six-year period from 2017 to 2023 post-Brexit, the UK lost a total of 16,500 millionaires to migration. The provisional estimate for 2024 is even more worrying,” added the research.
Hannah White, CEO of the Institute for Government think tank, noted that the exodus of millionaires could be accelerated by this year’s general election.
The latest opinion polls give the centre-left Labor Party a formidable lead over its rival right-wing Conservative Party. A poll by Savanta for The Telegraph newspaper, published at the weekend, gave Labor 46% of the vote, more than double the Conservatives’ 21%, with the populist right-wing Reform Party not far behind with 13%.
Labor has positioned itself as a pro-business party with a focus on wealth creation. However, the election manifesto also made it clear that the plan would target loopholes that benefit the wealthy in order to fund public services. It has promised to close tax loopholes for the homeless, reduce tax avoidance, scrap tax breaks for independent schools and raise taxes on the purchase of residential property by non-UK residents.
“The outflow of high-value individuals that has been created by the current economic and political context is accelerated by policy decisions before the election,” White wrote in the Henley report.
“On top of the 40% duty that has been imposed on estates above the £325,000 ($412,420) threshold, the Conservative government has adopted the Labor opposition policy to end the British non-dom tax regime from 2025. And for those who teach them. children- children in the UK’s well-regarded private school sector, Labour’s commitment to remove the exemption from 20% VAT enjoyed by private schools would be an unexpected development,” added White.
The number of millionaires in the UK has fallen by 8% over the past decade, according to Henley, in stark contrast to other major economies across Europe and beyond. The number of high-net-worth individuals in Germany, for example, increased by 15% during that period, while the number in the US increased by 62%.
Correction: Key points in an earlier version of this article misstated UK millionaire losses by 2023.
– CNBC’s Jenni Reid contributed to this report.
