About 4,300 Indian millionaires are expected to move out of the country in 2024, investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners has said in a report.
Many of the high-net-worth individuals leaving the country are likely to migrate to the United Arab Emirates, the report said. Millionaires and high-net-worth individuals are persons with liquid investable wealth of at least $1 million (or Rs 8.3 crore).
If these projections hold, India will have the third-highest net outflow of millionaires in 2024 after China (15,200) and the United Kingdom (9,500). About 1.28 lakh millionaires across the world are projected to migrate to a new country this year. The United Arab Emirates and the United States top the list of destinations.
Safety and security, financial concerns, taxes, business opportunities, lifestyle factors such as climate and nature, education opportunities for children, and better healthcare system and standard of living are common reasons why millionaires migrate, the report said.
Therefore, migration figures of millionaires are an important overall indicator of the health of an economy, especially if it is outwards, the firm said.
“In many developing nations, a relatively lower standard of living combined with safety and security concerns have driven high-net-worth individuals to places where they can enjoy a better lifestyle, have access to more premium health and education services, and enjoy safer and cleaner environments,” the annual report said.
However, the total predicted outflow of Indian high-net-worth individuals this year is lower than the 5,100 who migrated out of the country last year.
A significant chunk of such individuals leaving India tend to retain their business interests and secondary homes in the country, “which is a positive sign”, the investment migration consultancy further noted.
The report also said that while India loses thousands of millionaires every year, concerns over such an outflow “may well be mitigated as with wealth growth of 85% over the past decade, the country continues to produce far more new high-net-worth individuals than it loses to emigration”.
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