61,000 millionaires left India for foreign shores in the past 14 years

The number of Indian emigrants next only to China's 91,000 during the period

India has in the past 14 years registered the second-biggest outflow of high-networth individuals (HNIs) among all nations, shows a joint report by New World Wealth and LIO. As many as 61,000 millionaires have headed out of the country during the period, for reasons ranging from tax and security to child education.

Applications for second citizenship have also increased dramatically since the turn of the century, the report says. The number of uber-rich Indians who have changed domicile between 2000 and 2014 is next only to those from China, which has lost 91,000 top-earning people in the same period.

High-networth individuals from India typically move to the UAE, the UK, the US and Australia, while Chinese HNIs mainly migrate to the US, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK.

HNIs refer to individuals with net assets of $1 million or more, excluding their primary residences. 

Among other countries that saw significant HNI outflows during the 14-year period were France (42,000), Italy (23,000), Russia (20,000), Indonesia (12,000), South Africa (8,000) and Egypt (7,000).

Meanwhile, the UK has seen the biggest inflow of HNIs, with the figure during the past 14 years standing at 125,000.

The report mentions that there are several factors that contribute to the outflow; these include turmoil in one’s home country, security concerns and optimising education of children.

Most HNIs who have moved to the UK have come from Europe, Russia, China and India, even as a substantial number has also flowed in from West Asia and Africa.

This survey has compared the domicile of a sample of around 60,000 global HNIs in 2000 with the same in 2014.