For centuries, Britain stood as a magnet for global wealth. London’s financial markets, trusted legal system, and cosmopolitan culture attracted the world’s wealthy, fueling investment, innovation, and growth. But that era is coming to an end. In 2025, the UK is set to lose more millionaires than any other country in the world—a stunning reversal for a country that for centuries stood at the heart of global prosperity.
A harmful mix of higher taxes, tighter regulations, and the abolition of the centuries-old non-domiciled regime is driving this exodus. It is more than a passing phenomenon; it’s a direct blow to the UK economy. Each departure means shuttered businesses, diminished investment, lost jobs, and the withdrawal of philanthropic contributions that sustain schools, hospitals, and cultural institutions nationwide.
In today’s world, capital is more mobile than ever. By punishing success with higher taxes and hostile policies, Britain signals that wealth and enterprise are unwelcome. The nation now faces a stark choice: build an environment that attracts investment and rewards ambition, or persist with policies that drive wealth, jobs, and opportunity abroad.
Britain’s Wealth Flight: A Sign of Economic Decline
In recent years, thousands of millionaires—including some of Britain’s most dynamic entrepreneurs—have left the country, reflecting mounting unease among those who power investment, create jobs, and drive economic dynamism.
The scale is extraordinary. In 2024 alone, Britain lost 10,800 millionaires—a 157% increase from 2023—second only to China in global outflows. The outlook for 2025 is even more alarming. Britain is projected to lose 16,500 millionaires, taking with them an estimated $91.8 billion in wealth—the most significant recorded exodus from a single country. By contrast, the United States is expected to gain 7,500 millionaires, bringing $43.7 billion in new wealth. Even China—long the epicenter of wealth flight—will see fewer departures than the UK.
At the same time, other countries are actively competing to attract the very wealth Britain is driving away. Italy now offers a flat tax on global income with no wealth or inheritance tax. Portugal and Greece provide similar incentives. The UAE, the world’s top wealth destination in 2025, is expected to attract nearly 10,000 millionaires this year. Even emerging markets like Thailand and Montenegro are positioning themselves as new destinations for global wealth.
Yet Britain’s millionaire exodus is not simply a reaction to global competition—it is being driven from within. Labour’s controversial abolition of the centuries-old non-dom regime, coupled with sweeping new tax hikes, stricter employment laws, and an increasingly stifling regulatory environment, has made the UK a far less attractive place for the wealthy.
For decades, the non-dom regime allowed foreign residents to shield overseas income from UK tax, provided it was not remitted, making London a magnet for global investors and wealthy expatriates. Since April 2025, however, these protections have been removed: non-doms now face UK taxes on their worldwide income, gains, and assets, with a new 40% inheritance tax extended globally.
The pressure does not stop there. Capital gains tax has also climbed—from 10% to 18% at the lower rate and from 20% to 24% at the higher rate—further eroding Britain’s competitiveness and incentivizing wealth to move abroad.
The impact is already visible: applications for foreign citizenship have surged, with Henley & Partners reporting a 57% increase in 2024 compared to 2023 and a 580% rise over the past five years. This steady outflow of high-net-worth residents poses a severe economic and fiscal threat.
The Price of Driving Wealth Away
The government sells its reforms as a revenue-raising triumph, claiming they will add £12.7 billion to the Treasury over the next five years. Yet Oxford Economics offers a starkly different view: once investment, spending, and philanthropy are taken into account, the policy could cost nearly £1 billion annually.
The fiscal cost is stark. The Adam Smith Institute calculates that each departing millionaire costs the Exchequer £393,957 in annual tax, equivalent to the contribution of 49 average taxpayers. Last year’s outflow alone represented a loss comparable to that of half a million taxpayers, roughly the population of Manchester.
The consequences extend further. Non-dom reforms alone could result in over 23,000 job losses by 2030, alongside annual reductions of £500 million in investment and £3 billion in capital stock. The effects ripple across the economy, hitting public finances, local communities, and Britain’s global standing.
Yet policymakers seem to assume that the wealthy will simply bear rising taxes and stricter regulations. In reality, high-net-worth individuals have always been mobile, and in today’s global economy, capital and talent flow quickly to where they are most welcome. If Britain continues down this path, the exodus will only accelerate—draining investment, reducing entrepreneurial activity, and weakening the very foundations of the economy.
Avoiding this outcome requires decisive action: Competitive tax rates must be restored, the non-dom regime preserved, investor visas reopened, and London revived as a truly global financial hub. Other nations have demonstrated that attracting wealth fosters prosperity throughout society. If the UK fails to adapt, it risks becoming a stark example of decline—the former financial capital of the world that drove its wealth creators away.
Photo by Mohamed M
