As many as 6,500 high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) are likely to leave India this year to migrate to other countries. India is second only to China (13,500) in the number of millionaires likely to leave the country, according to the latest edition of Henley & Partners' annual Private Wealth Migration Report.
High net-worth individuals mean people who have a total investable wealth of $1 million or more.
The 2023 migration forecasts are based on year-to-date HNWI movements to June 2023. The UK ranks third in the number of millionaires likely to migrate, followed by Russia, Brazil, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Mexico.
Australia is the most preferred destination for millionaires looking to migrate, followed by UAE, Singapore, the USA, and Switzerland. Other preferred destinations include Canada, France, Greece, Portugal, and New Zealand.
According to the report, nine of the top 10 countries to which HNIs prefer to move in 2023 host formal investment migration programmes and actively encourage foreign direct investment in return for residence rights.
In an unsettled, ever-changing world, wealthy individuals need a plan B for themselves and their families — one that offers them a safer place to live in times of crisis, while also providing them with greater access to global business and lifestyle opportunities, says the report.
It points out that many countries host residence and citizenship by investment programmes (golden visa programmes) offering several investment options. Such programmes give HNIs the option to relocate and the right to live, work, study, and access healthcare in their new countries of residence.
Investing in different residence and/or citizenship options offers both short-term value and long-term yield, the report observed.
"Affluent families are extremely mobile, and their transnational movements can provide an early warning signal in terms of a country’s economic outlook and future country trends," Forbes quoted Juerg Steffen, CEO, Henley & Partners as saying.
Wealthy Indians prefer Dubai and Singapore to migrate, with the latter frequently extending its golden visa programme to several celebrities among others. Most incoming millionaires in 2023 to Dubai are expected to come from India, says the report.
The report cites UAE's status as a safe haven, highly diversified economy, low tax rates, great healthcare system, good international schools, prime real estate, and all-year-round leisure activities as some of the reasons for being seen as a preferred destination for migration.