Thanks to technology, transportation links, and the warm welcome that many countries will give them – and their money! – the world’s wealthiest have never had a better option of where to live. According to a new survey, the United States, China, and Japan are the top three countries for privately held wealth. The United States is leading by a significant margin. It accounts for 32 percent of total global wealth and 36 percent of the world’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
The US has about $69 trillion in privately held wealth, greatly above China’s $23 trillion and Japan’s $20 trillion.
As per the Henley & Partners report, based on data from New World Wealth, the US had a 10% increase in the population of HNWIs followed by China at 4% and Japan at 3%.
The report’s 10-year forecast indicates China is likely to outperform the US in this area. It will have a 50% increase of HNWIs compared to 20% in the US. Japan will see a 30% increase.
India, Germany, UK, Australia, Canada, France, and Italy round out the top ten wealthiest countries in the world by total wealth (the W10).
Key component
Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, says “all of these countries share a key component.”
“It’s no coincidence that each of the W10 countries has legislation in place granting residence rights to foreign investors — and five host formal investment migration programs,” he then said. “These countries are important investment migration markets in terms of both supply; thanks to their attractive and successful programs, and demand, due to their significant and growing populations of affluent investors.”
Indian nationals topped the rankings for inquiries received by the firm in 2021 by a large margin. It had a 54 percent increase over 2020; a year in which Indian investors showed a 63 percent increase in interest.
The second greatest increase is among Americans. Henley & Partners received 26% more inquiries in 2021 after a staggering 208 percent increase in 2020. In 2021, British and South African inquiries likewise increased by 110 percent and 38 percent, respectively.
Canadians, on the other hand, were inquisitive in exploring possibilities, placing 9th in inquiries with an 86 percent year-over-year increase.
In addition, wealthy people in South Asia are showing a lot of interest. It has a 52 percent increase in client inquiries from this region in 2021 compared to 2020.
“The combination of W10 countries and developing economies that make up our Top 10 reflects the universal appeal of investment migration for affluent families,” Volek also added. “In addition to the traditional benefits of enhanced global mobility, residence and citizenship by investment programs offer a proven risk mitigation and growth diversification strategy in terms of wealth and legacy planning with the added lifestyle advantage of domicile optionality.”
Covid, climate change, geopolitics, and also possibly the threat of wealth taxes being contemplated by some authorities, are among the factors driving people to seek alternate residences.
