Money may not buy happiness, but it does buy the ultimate flexibility for making financial and lifestyle decisions.
For many of the world’s millionaires, money provides a highly effective means to escape their home country when times get tough. They can pack their bags, and move their family and capital to a location that will provide superior opportunities for prosperity.
According to a new report by New World Wealth, this couldn’t have been truer for 2016, as the amount of millionaire migrants increased by 28% from the previous year.
HUMAN AND CAPITAL FLIGHT
In 2016, there were a total of 82,000 millionaire migrants that left for greener pastures.
The Top Five Countries (Net Outflows)
Country 2016 2015 Change
1 France -12,000 -10,000 20%
2 China -9,000 -9,000 0%
3 Brazil -8,000 -2,000 300%
4 India -6,000 -4,000 50%
5 Turkey -6,000 -1000 500%
France tops the list for a second straight year, as rich people dodge conditions that they consider to be adverse. France has rising religious tensions and populism, but it also has a tax system that is not particularly friendly to the ultra rich. The International Business Times calls the ongoing problem a “Millionaire Exodus”.
China and India both continue to have net outflows of millionaires, but two of the more interesting countries on this list are Brazil and Turkey.
The Top Five Countries (Net Inflows)
Country 2016 2015 Increase
1 Australia +11,000 +8,000 38%
2 USA +10,000 +7,000 43%
3 Canada +8,000 +5,000 60%
4 UAE +5,000 +3,000 67%
5 New Zealand +4,000 +2,000 100%
In 2016, Australia was the number one destination for millionaire migrants, with the United States and Canada being close behind.