Brazil could see the fifth most significant flight of millionaires in the world this year, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2023, based on the methodology from New World Wealth, which has been monitoring the net flows of millionaires in dollars for more than a decade. Per the report, 1,200 millionaires will leave the country, the largest contingent behind those leaving China, India, the United Kingdom, and Russia. In 2022, 1,800 millionaires left Brazil, says the firm.
The other four largest economies in Latin America also appear in the Henley & Partners ranking. Mexico is ranked eighth, with 700 millionaires set to leave the country in 2023, followed by Argentina at 14th with 200 fleeing millionaires. Colombia and Chile come in the 17th and 18th positions, respectively, with probably 100 “millionaire escapes.”
In April, data from the Institute of International Finance gathered by Bloomberg showed that people and corporations pulled nearly USD 137 billion out of Latin America’s five largest economies in 2022, 41 percent more than in 2021 and the most since 2010.
The IIF pointed out “shifts to the left in reaction to widening inequality” as the main reason for this. But there are more factual reasons for such a movement, such as the growing debt level of these countries, regulatory and political uncertainty, and, consequently, a lack of predictability — a sine qua non for any investor to put money in a country.
The Henley & Partners report also points out that alongside political stability, low taxation, and personal freedom, millionaires are also looking for some “intangible elements” linked to quality of life, so locations with top-tier academic institutions for their children or cities that are more resilient to climate change are also important factors for them.
This year’s list of top destinations for millionaires includes Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and the U.S., among others. Not all of these countries tick all the boxes on a millionaire’s wish list, but they have factors that can compensate for the lack of one element or another, says the consultancy firm.
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