Portugal has emerged as one of the preferred destinations for UK expatriates, alongside St. Kitts and Nevis, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and Italy.
The quantification of these wealthy individuals is based on the ownership of assets, excluding real estate, valued at a minimum of one million dollars, according to Henley & Partners and New World Wealth, who conducted the study.
In the survey, London reports 215,700 millionaires, a drop from 227,000 in 2023, placing the British capital now below Los Angeles, which has 220,600 millionaires.
This decline in London’s millionaire population has been ongoing for a decade, attributed to rising taxes, the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, and the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.
Besides London, which has seen a 12% decrease in millionaires since 2014, Moscow is the only other city among the 50 surveyed to lose this affluent population, shrinking by 25%.
The list is topped by New York, with 384,500 millionaires, followed by San Francisco (342,400), Tokyo (292,300), and Singapore (242,400), then Los Angeles and London.
The ‘top 10’ also includes Paris (160,100), Hong Kong (154,900), Sydney (152,900), and Chicago (127,100).
In San Francisco, this wealthy population has almost doubled (98%) over the past decade.
Andrew Amiols of New World Wealth stated that the “growing dominance” of the USA and Asia in technology has led several millionaires in the UK to “reconsider their base.”
Other factors he mentioned for the UK’s situation include Brexit, capital gains and inheritance taxes, and the decline of the London Stock Exchange in favor of Frankfurt and Dubai.
