India records third highest outflow of millionaires beating UK

INDIA witnessed the third highest outflow of wealthy individuals last year beating the UK, latest report showed.

Around 5,000 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) or millionaires left India in 2018, which constitute two per cent of the total number of HNWIs in the country.

The outflow of Indian HNWIs is higher when compared to the UK which recorded the outflow of 3000 HNWIs last year, according to the Global Wealth Migration Review (GWMR) 2019 by AfrAsia Bank and research firm New World Wealth.

The UK recorded the sixth highest outflow of HNWIs after China, Russia, India, Turkey, and France.

For the last 30 years, the UK was ranked among the countries with the highest number of inflow of millionaires. However, the trend has been revered in the last 24 months due to Brexit.

“Over the past 30 years, the UK has been one of the biggest recipients of migrating HNWIs. We estimate that over 80,000 HNWIs have moved to the UK since 1990. However, over the past two years (2017 and 2018) the UK has lost around 7,000 HNWIs (approximately 4,000 left in 2017 plus the 3,000 in 2018),” the report said.

The report has also noted that the degree of inequality is growing at an alarming rate in India and the HNWIs hold nearly 50 per cent of the total wealth in the country.

The global average of this measure was 36 per cent, it was as high as 48 per cent in India.

The report highlighted the fact that India will surpass the UK and Germany in terms of wealth generation to become the fourth largest wealth market in the globe within a decade.

The outflow of HNWIs from India and China are not particularly concerning as both Asian countries are still producing more new millionaires than they are losing every year, the report added.

For the migrating millionaires, the US and Australia have topped in the list of most favoured countries.

“Australia was the top country worldwide for HAIWI inflows in 2018, beating out its main rival the US for the 4^th year running. Popular places for them to move to in Australia included: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Perth and Brisbane,” the report said.