Britain is projected to lose nearly one in six of its U.S. dollar millionaires by 2028, while the number of millionaires is expected to grow in other countries, including the
United States, and surge in Taiwan, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The UBS Global Wealth Report for 2024 predicts that the number of dollar millionaires in Britain will fall by 17% to 2,542,464 in 2028 from 3,061,553 last year. The report also forecasts a 4% decline in the Netherlands, from 1,231,625 to 1,179,328.
Paul Donovan, Chief Economist of UBS Global Wealth Management, explained that the shift away from Britain is partly because its current number of millionaires is “disproportionately high,” being the third highest globally.
“You have obviously seen in the U.K. over the last few years, as you have seen in other countries, implications arising from sanctions against Russia,” Donovan said at a press conference.
He noted that Britain’s decision to eliminate its “non-dom” status—which allows wealthy, often foreign residents to avoid tax on overseas income—had a “small effect.”
“The non-indigenous millionaire population, the global population, which is constantly shifting, will be looking for low tax locations all of the time,” Donovan added. He stressed that this trend is “not a function of UK policies per se” but is influenced by the “pull factors” of other countries, such as Dubai and Singapore.
Separately, British real estate group Winkworth reported on Wednesday that demand for high-end properties has been impacted by tax policies targeting wealthy individuals and a proposal by the new Labour government to tax private schools.
The UBS report forecasts that the number of dollar millionaires in the United States will rise by 16% by 2028, in Germany by 14%, in France by 16%, in Japan by 28%, in Spain by 12%, and in Italy by 9%.
GLOBAL WEALTH RISES
UBS defines “wealth” in its report as the value of financial assets plus real assets owned by households, minus their debts. The report is based on 56 markets, accounting for approximately 92.2% of global wealth, according to the Swiss bank.
In dollar terms, global wealth grew by 4.2% in 2023 after a decline of 3% in 2022, the study indicated.
The number of adults worth over $1 million is expected to have risen in 52 of the 56 markets by 2028, with the strongest growth in millionaires—47%—anticipated in Taiwan, driven by the country’s microchip industry.
Over the 15 years UBS has published its report, the Asia-Pacific region has seen the largest growth in wealth, up almost 177%, followed by the Americas at nearly 146%, while Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) have grown by just 44%.
However, the Asia-Pacific region has also experienced the sharpest increase in debt, with total debt rising by over 192% since 2008, more than 20 times the growth in EMEA and almost four times the rise for the Americas.
