Millionaires are increasingly moving out of London as new figures show the proportion of super rich dropped more than anywhere else except Moscow.
An annual report on global wealth indicates London is one of only two cities in the top 50 that has fewer rich people than 10 years ago.
The decline has been attributed to tax increases, economic uncertainty and the fall in the value of the pound.
In total, 11,300 dollar millionaires were lost in London over the past year, including 18 centimillionaires – someone with at least $100million – and two billionaires.
The study was conducted for the advisory firm Henley & Partners by New World Wealth and defines wealth as ‘liquid investable’ assets, which translates to cash, bonds and shares but excludes property wealth, The Times reports.
It was undertaken before the recent stock market falls that came after the announcement of Donald Trump‘s tariffs.
With its new total of 215,700 dollar millionaires, London is only matched by Moscow in being a city in the top 50 with fewer rich people than 10 years ago.
Overall, London has lost 12 per cent of its richest residents since 2014 – in absolute terms, however, it has more millionaires than anywhere else.
Millionaires are increasingly moving out of London (pictured) as new figures show the percentage of super rich dropped more than anywhere else except Moscow (file image)
The decline has been attributed to tax increases, economic uncertainty and the fall in the value of the pound (file image)
Around 30,000 fled the city over the past 10 years, compared with 10,000 leaving Moscow.
In October last year, economists warned Britain was set to lose a fifth of its millionaires under the current Labour government, amid increased day-to-day taxation, frozen inheritance tax thresholds and a potential increase in capital gains taxes.
The policies prompted a forecast from the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) that the 4.55 per cent of British residents with over $1million in assets would fall to just 3.62 per cent by 2028.
Wealthy Brits were also said to fear the abolition of the non-dom regime – despite predictions the crackdown would fail in yielding any extra tax income.
After coming into force on Monday, the traditional status – that allowed wealthy foreigners living in the UK to shelter their worldwide assets from British taxes for an annual fee starting at £30,000 – was replaced with a far less generous residence-based system.
They new rules mean any wealthy foreigners who have lived in the UK for longer than four years now have to pay UK income and capital gains taxes on their global earnings.
And if they stay long enough in the country, their worldwide assets will also become subject to UK inheritance tax (IHT) of 40 per cent – one of the highest rates in the world.
Tax advisors say non-doms are relocating to countries like Portugal, St Kitts and Nevis, Spain, Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Italy, where taxes are much lower or a fixed annual fee can be paid to avoid them.
Around 30,000 fled London over the past 10 years, compared with 10,000 leaving Moscow (pictured/file image)
Andrew Amoils, the head of research at New World Wealth, said: ‘Capital gains tax and estate duty rates [IHT] in the UK are amongst the highest in the world, which deters wealthy business owners and retirees from living there.
‘It’s worth noting that most of the companies on the FTSE 100 were started by centimillionaires, so the loss of these individuals has a massive impact on an economy.’
However, he named other factors too such as the failure to recover from the 2008 financial crisis, the growing dominance of America and Asia in the global hi-tech space, and the impact of Brexit.
Mr Amoils added: ‘The continued ascendance of nearby financial hubs such as Dubai, Paris, Geneva, Frankfurt and Amsterdam has eroded London’s status as Europe’s top financial centre.’
He also referenced the ‘dwindling importance’ of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
According to the data, London has been overtaken by Los Angeles and the top 50 is now dominated by American cities.
The only other British city to make the top 50 list is Manchester, in 46th place with 23,400 dollar millionaires.
Despite the loss, London still ranks as the fourth most expensive city to live in, with its property price per square metre higher than anywhere else apart from Hon Kong, New York and Monaco, which has the most costly homes.
