1,200 Millionaires Expected to Make Greece their Home This Year

Over 1,000 millionaires will become migrants to Greece and choose the country as their new permanent home this year.

Greece cracked the top 10 of destinations that “millionaire movers” are expected to choose, according to a new report from Henley & Partners. It ranked eighth with 1,200. The US ranked sixth on the list of 20, with 1,500 millionaires expected to move there.

The coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s war on Ukraine, along with social unrest and instability in China, Hong Kong and other parts of the world have led to outflows of capital in many countries, according to Henley & Partners. The consulting firm caters to wealthy individuals looking for “residence and citizenship by investment,” according to its website.

Now, 88,000 millionaires worldwide are likely to move to a new country by year’s end, according to the report, compiled for Henley by global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth. That number will likely jump to 125,000 in 2023, the highest total for millionaire migrants in a single year.

The top five countries that are expected to receive the highest number of millionaires this year are: United Arab Emirates with 4,000, Australia with 3,500, Singapore with 2,800, Israel with 2,500, and Switzerland with 2,200.

Greece’s Golden Visa Program

Greece has sought to attract high-income earners and digital nomads with tax breaks along with its Golden Visa Program, which provides permanent residence permits for individuals who buy real estate valued at 250,000 euros or more.

The new data from Henley & Partners shows Greece is expected to accept 1,200 millionaires this year seeking permanent residence and 43,800 high-income earners in total.

“Affluent individuals are extremely mobile, and their movements can provide an early warning signal into future country trends,” said New World Wealth’s Andrew Amoilis. Countries that draw wealthy individuals and families to migrate to their shores tend to be robust, he added, “with low crime rates, competitive tax rates, and attractive business opportunities.”

High-net-worth individuals were on the move across the world in increasing number over the past decade until COVID-19 hit, said Henley & Partners CEO Dr. Juerg Steffen.

“The 2022 forecast reflects an extremely volatile environment worldwide,” he said. The 88,000 millionaires who will have relocated to new countries by year’s end will be 22,000 fewer than in 2019 when 110,000 moved, he added. Next year’s high-income movers will be preparing for the new post-COVID-19 world and “as yet-to-be revealed rearrangement of the global order” as the backdrop, he said.

Worldwide Millionaire migrants

As part of this, the report shows 15,000 high-net-worth individuals are expected to leave Russia this year, followed by China, with 10,000, India with 8,000, Hong Kong with 3,000, and Ukraine with 2,800.

It was reported that the United Kingdom, “once touted as the world’s financial center, continues to see a steady loss of millionaires, with net outflows of 1,500 predicted for 2022.”

While still high on the list, the US also appears to be on the downslide, the report contends. As per the report, “America is notably less popular among migrating millionaires today than pre-COVID, perhaps owing in part to the threat of higher taxes.”