UAE Emerges as the World's Leading Millionaire Magnet

For the third year in a row, the UAE is poised to become the world’s leading wealth magnet, with 6,700 wealthy migrants expected to call the UAE home by the end of 2024. According to Henley and Partners’ annual Private Wealth Migration Report 2024, the UAE’s millionaire population will grow significantly due to large inflows from the UK and Europe.

With its zero-income tax, golden visas, and strategic location, the UAE remains the world’s biggest magnet for wealthy individuals. “With consistent high inflows from India, the wider Middle East region, Russia, and Africa, the anticipated influx of larger numbers of Britons and Europeans looks set to see the Emirates attract nearly twice as many millionaires as its nearest rival, the US, which is projected to benefit from a net inflow of 3,800 millionaires in 2024,” said the report.

Sunita Singh-Dalal, Partner leading the Private Wealth and Family Offices at Hourani in Dubai, said, “The evolution and development of the UAE’s wealth management ecosystem is unprecedented.” She added, “In less than five years, the UAE has introduced a robust regulatory framework that provides the wealthy with a range of innovative solutions to protect, preserve, and enhance their wealth.”

The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024, released on Tuesday by Henley and Partners, details the most recent projected net inflows and outflows of millionaires with $1 million or more in liquid assets, as tracked by New World Wealth. This global wealth intelligence firm has been tracking wealth migration trends for over a decade.

128,000 millionaires set to relocate

According to the report, 2024 is shaping up to be a watershed moment in the global wealth migration. Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley and Partners, said, “An unprecedented 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate worldwide this year, eclipsing the previous record of 120,000 set in 2023.”

Volek said, “As the world grapples with a perfect storm of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and social upheaval, millionaires are voting with their feet in record numbers.” He added, “In many respects, this great millionaire migration is a leading indicator, signaling a profound shift in the global landscape and the tectonic plates of wealth and power, with far-reaching implications for the future trajectory of the nations they leave behind or those which they make their new home.”

Entrepreneurs make the move

According to Andrew Amolis, Head of Research at New World Wealth, the benefits of migrating wealth and talent to these destination countries are significant and diverse.

“Migrating millionaires are a vital source of forex revenue as they bring their money with them when moving to a country. Also, around 20 percent of them are entrepreneurs and company founders who may start new businesses and create local jobs in their new country. This percentage rises to over 60 per cent for centi-millionaires and billionaires,” said Amolis.

Countries that lost out

According to the report, the UK is expected to lose 9,500 millionaires in 2024, trailing only China and more than double the 4,200 who left the country last year, which was already a record after 1,600 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) left in 2022.

Between 2017 and 2023, the UK lost 16,500 millionaires due to migration after Brexit. Provisional estimates for 2024 are even more concerning, with a massive net outflow of 9,500 millionaires expected this year alone. 

China is again on track to be the world’s largest millionaire loser, with an estimated net exit of 15,200 HNWIs this year (compared to 13,800 in 2023). In contrast, India’s wealth exodus has slowed, falling to third place after the United Kingdom, with only 4,300 millionaires expected to leave the country by 2024 (compared to 5,100 last year).

South Korea’s HNWI flight is expected to increase, with a loss of 1,200 millionaires (compared to 800 in 2023), while the tsunami of millionaires who fled Russia following the outbreak of the Ukraine war appears to be subsiding, with only 1,000 expected to relocate this year (compared to 8,500 in 2022 and 2,800 in 2023).