The British consulting firm Henley and Partners has predicted that up to 300 millionaires will relocate to Saudi Arabia by 2024, underscoring the Kingdom’s ongoing attraction to wealthy people.
According to the agency’s latest report, Riyadh and Jeddah have emerged as increasingly popular destinations among millions of immigrants, particularly from North Africa and the Middle East (MENA region).
Henley and Partners’ head of private clients, Dominic Volek, called 2024 a turning point in the movement of wealth around the world.
“An unprecedented 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate worldwide this year, surpassing the previous record of 120,000 set in 2023. As the world grapples with a storm of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and social unrest,” the official stated further.
“The exodus of these millionaires represents a dramatic change in the balance of power and wealth in the world, with far-reaching effects on the nations they leave behind as well as the ones they choose to relocate to,” Volek stated further.
According to the Henley & Partners report, by the 2024 end, the United States and Singapore will have welcomed 3,800 and 3,500 millionaires, respectively, making the UAE the top destination.
Canada comes in fourth place, ahead of Italy and Australia, which have 2,200 and 2,500 millionaires, respectively, with an anticipated influx of 3,200 more affluent people.
Switzerland ranks sixth on the list, anticipating the relocation of 1,500 millionaires, followed by Portugal and Greece with 1,200 and 800 millionaires, respectively.
As opposed to this, the United Kingdom seems to be one of the biggest losers, as the European country is predicted to experience a large net loss of millionaires in 2024, as 9,500 HNWI individuals are predicted to depart, ranking second only to China globally and more than twice as many as those who left in the previous year.
China is predicted to be the country losing the greatest number of millionaires worldwide, with a net outflow of wealthy people expected to be 15,200 in 2024 compared to 13,800 in 2023.
Talking about Henley & Partners, the British consulting firm, in February 2024 published another report, expecting a 105% surge in the average wealth per person within the Kingdom in the next decade leading to an anticipated increase in the number of millionaires.
The “BRICS Wealth Report” back then informed about the Gulf nation hosting some 58,300 millionaires (at the beginning of 2024), including 195 centi-millionaires, individuals with assets exceeding USD 100 million (Dh367 million), and 22 billionaires, marking a 32% increase since 2013.
One of the factors cited behind the trend was the economic diversification agenda titled “Vision 2030,” which has been drawn up to reduce the Kingdom’s dependency on its energy trade, while introducing more investments in sectors like tourism, entertainment, and technology, thereby creating new wealth opportunities.
Also, Henley & Partners found economic reforms in the Saudi market, such as the opening of the stock market to international investors, making the Kingdom more attractive to foreign investments.
Furthermore, the British consultancy firm’s report talked about the potential increase in the number of millionaires leading to more investments in domestic projects and start-ups, encouraging economic diversification more, while introducing other trends like shifts in consumer behaviour and lifestyle choices, which could potentially influence the socio-economic landscape of the Kingdom.