The UK is on track to lose more millionaires this year than any other country in the world, according to a new global wealth migration report that underscores growing concerns over the nation’s economic competitiveness and high-tax environment.
Henley & Partners, a specialist advisory firm, forecasts that 16,500 millionaires will leave Britain in 2025, more than double the 7,800 expected to exit China — which had previously topped the list for 10 consecutive years. The exodus from the UK represents a 73% increase on the 9,500 projected to leave in 2024, and places Britain at the top of the global ranking for high-net-worth individual (HNWI) outflows for the first time since the study began.
The report defines millionaires as those holding over $1 million (£740,500) in liquid, investable assets.
While the United Arab Emirates is forecast to gain the most HNWIs this year (+9,800), followed by the United States (+7,500) and Italy (+3,600), Britain faces the largest net loss of wealth due to migration — a trend experts say could have significant economic consequences.
“This isn’t just about changes to the tax regime,” said Henley & Partners CEO Dr Juerg Steffen. “It reflects a deepening perception among the wealthy that greater opportunity, freedom and stability lie elsewhere.”
Economic blow
The report adds to mounting evidence that the UK is struggling to retain its wealthiest residents, many of whom are now opting to relocate to jurisdictions offering lower tax burdens, political stability and more favourable investment conditions.
David Lesperance, of international tax advisory firm Lesperance & Associates, warned the UK was not just losing individuals, but the economic contributions they represent.
“The greater the net worth, the higher the tax contribution — not to mention consumer spending, employment, capital investment, VAT and philanthropy,” he said. “When wealthy taxpayers leave, their entire economic footprint disappears with them.”
The surge in millionaire departures comes on the heels of sweeping tax changes announced in the Autumn Budget, including:
• The abolition of the non-dom tax regime, ending the centuries-old policy that allowed wealthy foreign residents to avoid UK tax on offshore income.
• Inheritance tax liabilities now applying to foreign trusts for former non-doms.
• A rise in capital gains tax.
• The introduction of VAT on private school fees, a move widely seen as politically symbolic but economically regressive.
These changes have been met with strong resistance from wealth advisers and family offices, with some warning that more than a quarter of non-doms could leave the UK permanently as a result. High-profile departures have already included Richard Gnodde, head of Goldman Sachs International, and Nassef Sawiris, billionaire co-owner of Aston Villa FC.
Calls for reform
In response to growing alarm from the financial sector, the Treasury is reportedly reviewing potential tweaks to the tax reforms, including a possible reversal of the most contentious measure — taxing foreign-held trusts for non-doms.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party has launched its own bid to attract global wealth to Britain. Under its proposed ‘Britannia Card’, wealthy foreigners would pay a £250,000 flat fee for 10 years of tax residency in the UK, exempt from UK tax on foreign income, capital gains and inheritance. The proceeds would be redistributed directly to the 2.5 million lowest-paid full-time workers, in what Farage calls a “Robin Hood” levy.
However, critics, including the Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves, have condemned the proposal as a “tax cut for foreign billionaires”, warning it would drain public finances and leave working families to foot the bill.
The UK’s position as a global wealth hub is now being fundamentally questioned. The report paints a stark picture of a nation at risk of undermining its appeal to entrepreneurs, investors and job creators, just as it seeks to position itself as a post-Brexit centre for innovation and finance.
“The long-term implications for the UK’s economic trajectory, tax base and global standing are considerable,” Dr Steffen warned. “Countries that fail to retain or attract wealth risk being left behind.”
