Make in India, live in videsh: The story of 61,000 millionaires who left for greener pastures

India has seen the second-biggest outflow of high net worth individuals (HNWI) in the last 14 years globally, with as many as 61,000 millionaires shifting base abroad.

China stands first in the list with a net outflow of 91,000 HNWI.

This was mentioned in a joint report published by New World Wealth and LIO Global. The report was compiled after a survey was conducted comparing the domicile of a sample of around 60,000 global HNWIs in 2000 with the same in 2014.

Who are HNWI ?

HNWIs refer to individuals with net assets of USD 1 million or more excluding their primary residences.

Countries which have seen outflows

China and India apart, other countries that saw significant HNWI outflows include France (42,000), Italy (23,000), Russia (20,000), Indonesia (12,000), South Africa (8,000) and Egypt (7,000).

Where are the rich migrating to?

• Overall, the UK has seen the biggest inflow of HNWIs from abroad and the figure stood at 1.25 lakh over the past 14 years.

• After UK, USA( 52,000), Singpore (46,000), Australia (35,000), Hong Kong (29,000), UAE (18,000), Canada (17,000) and Turkey (12,000).

Where are rich Indians headed?

UK , USA , Singapore and UAE were the countries which were preferred by Indians for migration.

Why UK attracts the rich?

The UK, and in particular London has become a hub for millionaires because of language, ease of buying property, EU's open border policy and quality of schooling and universities.

• According to a recent data released by Office of National Statistics, the number of Indians living in the UK is four times more than the Chinese and Americans, over three times more than those of Bangladeshi and German origin and two times more than those from Ireland.

• The number of Indians have grown by half since 2004 with 7.6 lakh of them living in UK now.

Reasons for migration

• Major reasons for migration included turmoil in home country, security concerns and optimizing education of children.

• Along with migration there have also been a significant rise in second citizenship since the turn of century, according to the report. The main reason people apply for a second residence or citizenship is to ensure freedom of global mobility and access, as well as security and wealth protection for their families.