London faces millionaire exodus

December 6, 2023

London is second only to New York when comparing size of retail market, international visitor appeal, affluence and growth potential

By Luxury Marketer Intelligence

The United Kingdom, and London especially, has traditionally been seen as one of the world’s top destinations for migrating millionaires.

For many years – from early 1900s to 2010 – it consistently attracted large numbers of wealthy people from Europe, the former Soviet republics, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

However, this trend began to reverse around a decade ago as more millionaires left the country and less came in, according to new data and insights from New World Wealth.

Notably, during the five-year period from 2017 to 2022, the U.K. has lost approximately 12,500 more high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) than it has gained through migration and it is expected to lose another 3,200 HNWIs to migration in 2023.

‘Millionaires,’ ‘high-net-worth individuals’ or ‘HNWI’ refer to individuals with investable wealth of $1 million or more.

Losing allure
There are several possible reasons for the ongoing exodus.

First, the dwindling importance of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Before the First World War, the LSE was the largest stock market in the world by market cap, but it now ranks 11th globally. The past decade has been particularly poor, with a large number of delistings.

Second, large numbers of British HNWIs have moved to Europe over the past few years, possibly as a result of Brexit. The bulk of those moving work in the financial services space or are retirees.

Third, the healthcare system in the U.K. is deteriorating. This is perhaps the most immediate concern for most British HNWIs.

Fourth, there are increasing safety concerns, especially in the big cities.

Fifth, capital gains tax and estate duty rates in the U.K. are amongst the highest in the world, which deters wealthy retirees from living there.

Finally, the growing dominance of United States and Asia in the global hi-tech space has caused several wealthy U.K. tech entrepreneurs to reconsider their base location.

Where to now?
The top destinations for HNWIs leaving the U.K. over the past decade include destinations such as Paris, Monaco, Amsterdam, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, New York, Frankfurt, Silicon Valley, Toronto, Marbella, Geneva, Miami, Palm Beach, Tel Aviv, Lisbon and Cape Town.

Regions such as the Algarve in Portugal and the French Riviera are also very popular.

Semigration within the U.K.
Thousands of wealthy Brits have also moved internally over the past decade, with many moving out of the big cities to affluent small towns such as Weybridge, Virginia Water, Marlow, Ascot, Taplow, Harrogate and Bray, per New World Wealth.

These towns are becoming increasingly popular among the super-wealthy centi-millionaires cohort – those with more than $100 million in investable wealth.

The Cotswolds region is also gaining in popularity among this cohort. This area has, of course, been a popular second-home hotspot for wealthy Londoners for many decades, but more recently these individuals have started to live there permanently.

Spotlight on London
London has been particularly hard hit by the loss of top-end wealth, New World Wealth research shows.

Twenty years ago, it was the wealthiest city in the world when it came to centi-millionaire numbers, but it now ranks fourth by this measure behind New York, the Bay Area in California and Los Angeles.

London is also quickly being caught up by Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore.

U.S. dollar-based prime residential property prices in London are also down considerably over the past decade, although some may argue they were too high before.

There are approximately 254,000 HNWIs, 388 centi-millionaires and 36 billionaires currently living in London as of June 2023.

The HNWI figure is down by 12 percent over the past decade (2013 to 2023), whilst the centi-millionaire and billionaire numbers are both down by more than 20 percent. This makes London one of the worst performing cities in the world over this period.

Rising anti-Semitism and other future concerns
Going forward, new threats such as rising anti-Semitism in the big U.K. cities could see outward wealth migration accelerate.

Also, the ongoing rise of nearby financial hubs such as Amsterdam, Dubai, Paris and Frankfurt could further erode London’s status as the region’s top financial center.

Additional reading:

Climate change, sustainability actions to influence wealth and investment migration

Number of global centi-millionaires with assets north of $100M up 12pc to 28,420

With 340,000 millionaires, New York tops global list of wealthiest cities

What factors sway millionaires in their global relocation migration?

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