In its latest 2024 report, Henley & Partners describes the new distribution of the world’s nearly 30,000 centi-millionaires, who have . With exponential growth in their presence in Asia and America, and a certain lethargy in Europe.
Increasingly numerous, they don’t travel concealed in trucks or on makeshift rafts. But centi-millionaires are also migrants, in their own way…
Every year, Henley & Partners, awealth and investment migration advisor, studies the new places of residence of this category of wealthy individuals, “with investable liquid assets in excess of $100 million”.
Its latest 2024 report on centi-millionaires, incorporating exclusive data from business intelligence firm New Word Wealth, provides a clear picture of thegrowing importance of these economic VIPs and their geographical evolution.
More of them, in more cities
First lesson: the number of centi-millionaires has multiplied over the last decade. Between 2013 and 2023, the number jumped by 54% to 29,350 worldwide.
Second lesson: they have abandoned certain cities in favor of others. And their preferred “spots” are likely to change even more in the years to come.
The great paradox is probably the fact that it’s in a communist country – China – that centi-millionaires experienced the strongest growth (+108%) between 2013 and 2023, “even surpassing the remarkable performance of the United States”, the capitalist country par excellence, where they increased by 81%!
On the other hand, the old continent, where so much wealth was once concentrated, is on a very slippery slope, with the number of centi-millionaires growing by just 26%, “half the global growth rate”.
A heterogeneous Europe
“It’s clear that the history of centi-millionaires is marked by dynamism and change. From the rise of technology in China and the USA to the emergence of new centers of wealth around the world, the geography of extreme wealth is moving away from Europe,” points out Juerg Steffen, Managing Director of Henley & Partners.
But the old continent is not behaving homogeneously. According to Juerg Steffen, its “lethargy can be attributed to weak growth in major markets such as the UK, Germany and France”. In these countries, political and fiscal uncertainties are among the reasons why centi-millionaires are reluctant to make their homes there.
But the Henley & Partners executive also identifies “pockets of dynamism” in Europe, “with smaller European markets such as Monaco, Malta, Montenegro and Poland, with a ‘centi-millionaire population’ growing by ‘75% or more’.
This geographical evolution seems logical, given that inheritance is no longer the primary cause of today’s fortunes.
An entrepreneurial profile
According to Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth, over 60% of centi-millionaires are now “ entrepreneurs and company founders”, with a virtuous impact on their fellow citizens. Indeed, the companies they found “have a significant positive ripple effect on the middle class”, creating “a large number of well-paid jobs in their home countries”.
Andrew Amoils also points out that “most Fortune 500, S&P 500, CAC 40, FTSE 100 and Nikkei 225 companies were founded by people” who went on to become centi-millionaires.
According to the report, a third of the world’s centi-millionaires are concentrated in the 50 major cities it ranks.
The United States still the most popular
The United States continues to boast the largest number of cities popular with centi-millionaires, with some 15 metropolises in the world’s Top 50.
The top three are still located on the other side of the Atlantic. New York is No. 1 with 744 resident centi-millionaires, closely followed by the Bay Area (including San Francisco and Silicon Valley) with 675 centi-millionaires, and finally Los Angeles (496).
And their future prosperity is far from in doubt: the growth of this ultra-wealthy population is set to exceed 50% over the next decade.
The meteoric rise of Asian cities
Behind them, Asian cities are enjoying a meteoric rise, with four of them featuring in the world’s top ten centi-millionaires. Beijing ranks fifth worldwide and first in Asia, with 347 centi-millionaires , just ahead of Singapore(336), Shanghai (322) and Hong Kong (320), in sixth, seventh and eighth place respectively.
And the dominance of some is set to increase. According to the authors of the report. Singapore and Hong Kong are expected “to experience exceptionally high growth rates, in excess of 100%, over the next fifteen years (to 2040)”.
London losing ground
Finally, “Europe ‘s representation in the centi-millionaire landscape is marked by changing dynamics and diverse fortunes”.
Only two cities, London and Paris, feature in the world’s top 10.
But the English capital, “once considered the financial capital of the world and the global epicenter of wealth”, has lost much of its lustre. The only British city to feature in the Top 50, it has been demoted to fourth place, with 370 super-rich residents. And it is set to fall further, with “ forecasts of less than 50% growth in the number of centi-millionaires over the next 16 years (to 2040)”.
Paris is still popular
Europe’s top-ranked city in terms of centi-millionairegrowth (over 100%), Paris is in tenth place, with 286 centi-millionaires.
It is one of two French cities to feature in the Top 50, along with Nice, which ranks 33rd thanks to its 95 very wealthy residents who have opted for the French Riviera.
But among the “mature” cities in the Top 50, several could lose their appeal to the centi-millionaire population and experience “less than 50% growth”by 2040.
The Henley & Partners report cites the cities of Chicago (currently ninth on the list with 290 centi-millionaires), Moscow (16th with 207), Zurich (18th with 205) and Madrid (44th with 74).
Explosive growth
Conversely, several cities in Asia and the Middle East (Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Taipei, Dubai and Abu Dhabi) are expected to “experience explosive growth” (over 150%) in their centi-millionaire communities by 2040.
This should further improve their current scores in the Top 50: 15th for Dubai (with 212 centi-millionaires), 25th for Shenzhen (154), 32nd for Hangzhou (95), 39th for Taipei and 50th for Abu Dhabi (68).
Finally, two emerging-market cities not yet in the report’s Top 50, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Bengaluru (India), are expected to “ grow their centi-millionaire populations by more than 150% over the next 16 years”.
Uncertainty in the USA
Another factor of change, this one more short-term, in the mapping of the ultra-rich: the upcoming presidential elections in the United States.
“Current trends in centi-millionaire growth and migration will largely depend on the upcoming presidential elections in the United States, where we expect radical differences in fiscal, monetary, economic and social policies. The results could lead to a decline in the attractiveness of North America, as centi-millionaires move to countries offering greater economic and political security,” points out David Young, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee of The Conference Board, a leading American economic think tank.
What are the centi-millionaires afraid of? Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Indeed, she recently approved the tax increases proposed by President Biden in his 2025 budget, with one novelty: the obligation for centi-millionaires to pay a minimum tax on their unrealized capital gains…
As a result, a number of American centi-millionaires have already started packing their bags…
Juerg Steffen (Henley & Partners) reported that wealthy Americans had become the most numerous national group to seek his firm’s advice, “with a five-fold increase in requests for investment migration this year”.
He described this as “a fascinating paradox”. For while the United States remains “the world’s leading wealth hub”, with “over 30% of the world’s investableliquid wealth, a staggering $67 trillion”, there is “an unprecedented increase in the number of wealthy Americans seeking alternative residence and citizenship options”.
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Read also > Henley & Partners: Singapore now has more millionaires than London
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