插圖來源：
標題要加問號，因為有爭議的餘地。
這個博客的讀者應該記得，幾個月前，有一份來自英語世界的調查報告，聲稱由於工黨政府上台之後對有錢人加稅，令百萬富翁紛紛逃離英國。發表那份調查報告的機構叫 Henley & Partners，是移民顧問公司，在香港有辦事處。那份調查報告的重點被香港的中文財經媒體廣泛轉發。在網上世界，也有幾位 KOL 發表評論或抽水（例如：陶傑、蕭若元），結論是工黨政府害死英國，不走就笨。
藍絲（親建制）網民信以為真，這樣回應：「有銀（錢）人士當然要走喇，留係度俾工黨宰殺咩！工黨政策之下，經濟的不確定性增加，富豪當然要搬去 「稅務友善」 地區，例如：阿聯酋或瑞士。拿 BNO 移英的黃絲（反對派）進退兩難，回港沒有面子，留英被工黨玩殘，申請永久居留由 5+1 變 10+1，抵死（活該）！ 」
如果你滿足於上述程度的評論，信以為真，照單全收，沒有興趣了解來龍去脈，請跳過這篇文章。但如果你想知道一些香港的中文財經媒體（主流傳媒和網上 KOL）不會報導和討論的觀點和事實，有興趣尋找真相，請繼續閱讀。如是果你願意付出時間，也不怕傷腦筋，請順序閱讀《延伸閱讀》部份提供的參考資料。讀完之後，你會知道：
l 發表那份調查報告的 Henley & Partners 是什麼東西。
l 爭取稅制改革的國際組織 Tax Justice Network (TJN) 對那份調查報告提出怎樣的批評。重點：採樣和定義有問題，英國沒有出現富豪逃離的現象，那份調查報告不可信。
l Henley & Partners 怎麼回應 TJN 的批評。
l 英語財經媒體（主流媒體）的取態如何影響那份調查報告的傳播程度。TJN 認為主流傳媒沒有做功課。
簡單地說：
l Henley & Partners 是移民顧問，那份調查報告是促銷文件。潛台詞：「百萬富翁紛紛逃出工黨統治下的英國，閣下還等什麼? 本公司可以協助閣下籌劃移民，挑選適合你的黃金護照或投資移民計劃（提示：Golden Passport, Citizenship By Investment, CBI）。來來來！我們樂意為閣下服務。 」
l Tax Justice Network (TJN) 是一個爭取稅制改革的國際組織，它認為Henley & Partners 發表的調查報告採樣 (Sampling) 太小，對關鍵詞（即是：Millionaires, Exodus) 定義粗疏和前後矛盾，非常業餘，毫不專業。
l Henley & Partners 的回應是無意針對英國的工黨政府。原文：We have never claimed that Labour tax policies were the sole or root cause.
l Tax Justice Network (TJN) 認為 Henley & Partners 已經 Backtrack, 但是英語世界的財經媒體（主流傳媒）繼續轉發 Henley & Partners 的調查報告的重點，即是有既定的立場。財經媒體（主流傳媒）對英國的工黨政府不友善或不公平。TJN 認為財經媒體（主流傳媒）所採取的態度妨礙稅制改革，不利於收窄貧富距離。
Auntie 的補充和總結: 財經媒體（舊媒體）崇拜金錢，政治立場通常是保守右翼（即是親近英國的保守黨），因此對工黨政府不友善或不公平，甚至想工黨早日下台。香港的情況比較特殊，親建制的中文財經媒體（舊媒體）可以同時靠近商界富豪和中國共產黨，然後把 Henley & Partners 發表的那份調查報告照單全收，以為罵英國工黨政府趕走富豪，就是對自己最有利的做法。但是不會深入研究那份調查報告有什麼問題，也不會告訴讀者和觀眾那份調查報告發表之後的迴響。對，利益決定立場。讀者和觀眾看不見新聞故事的來龍去脈，停留在最低層次，對誰人有利？你懂的。至於偉大的中國共產黨是左還是右，自己想。
財經媒體（舊媒體）自以為服務 High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) ，那是舊媒體廣告部常用的 Sale pitch，但其實真正的富裕階層並不依賴舊媒體（尤其是中文傳媒）所提供的投資建議，事情不過是一場誤會或（財經媒體）自作多情。財經媒體（舊媒體）試圖替自己塑造一個保守右翼的定位，以為有助生存，結果直接或間接地把真相埋沒。對，舊媒體的高層和老闆很幼稚，所以淪為掙扎求存的夕陽工業。Auntie 當過小記者，但沒有成為財經媒體女高層，是有原因的。理念不同，難以長久。今日寫文章無需被舊媒體的框框束縛，是好事來的。
延伸閱讀／參考資料：
The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025
Henley & Partners
https://www.henleyglobal.com/publications/henley-private-wealth-migration-report-2025
這是 Henley & Partners 發表的調查報告全文。
Millionaires on the Move: UK Braces for
Historic Wealth Flight as Global Migration Peaks
Henley & Partners
For immediate release: London, Tuesday 24 June 2025
https://www.henleyglobal.com/newsroom/press-releases/henley-private-wealth-migration-report-2025
Excerpt: A record-breaking 142,000 millionaires are projected to relocate internationally this year, with the UK expected to see the largest net outflow of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) by any country since international investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners and global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth began tracking millionaire migration 10 years ago.
According to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 published today, the UK is forecast to lose a staggering –16,500 millionaires in 2025 — more than double the anticipated –7,800 net outflow from China, ranked 2nd this year after topping the millionaire-loser leaderboard every year over the past decade. In stark contrast, the UAE retains its crown as the world’s leading wealth magnet, with a record net inflow of +9,800 relocating millionaires expected this year — over 2,000 more than the US in 2nd place. +7,500 new wealthy migrants are expected to make America home by year-end.
Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO at Henley & Partners, says this sharp divergence highlights the rising influence of strategic wealth migration on global economic power shifts. “2025 marks a pivotal moment. For the first time in a decade of tracking, a European country leads the world in millionaire outflows. This isn’t just about changes to the tax regime. It reflects a deepening perception among the wealthy that greater opportunity, freedom, and stability lie elsewhere. The long-term implications for Europe and the UK’s economic competitiveness and investment appeal are significant.”
Europe’s wealth hubs in retreat — and reinvention
The UK is not alone in its struggles. For the first time, EU heavyweights France, Spain, and Germany are expected to see net HNWI losses in 2025 — with projected net outflows of –800, –500, and –400 millionaires, respectively. Ireland (–100), Norway (–150), and Sweden (–50) are also beginning to see significant wealth losses, with many affluent Europeans relocating to more investor-friendly hubs on the continent.
Key beneficiaries of this trend are Switzerland, set to attract a net gain of +3,000 migrating millionaires this year, while Italy, Portugal, and Greece are also forecast to see record inflows of +3,600, +1,400 and +1,200, respectively — driven by favorable tax regimes, lifestyle appeal, and active investment migration programs. Southern Europe is fast emerging as a new center of gravity for wealth migration in the region, with Monaco (+200) remaining popular, especially among ultra- HNWIs from the UK, Africa, and the Middle East.
Europe’s smaller markets are also gaining strong momentum. Montenegro (+150) tops global millionaire growth over the past decade with a remarkable 124% increase in resident millionaires, driven in part by its citizenship by investment program (operational from 2019 to 2022), low taxes, Adriatic coastline, and EU accession prospects. Malta (+500) follows with 87% growth, though its trajectory may be impacted by April’s European Court of Justice ruling against its citizenship by naturalization process. Latvia is also on the rise, with 70% millionaire growth between 2014 and 2024, and a projected net inflow of another +100 HNWIs this year.
Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth, says “If one reviews the fastest growing wealth markets in the world over the past decade, it is noticeable that most of these countries are either popular destinations for migrating millionaires — such as Montenegro, the UAE, Malta, the USA, and Costa Rica — or emerging market tech hubs like China, India, and Taiwan. This demonstrates the importance of millionaire migration in driving new wealth formation in a country.”
（這是 Henley & Partners 發表調查報告的新聞稿，是一份 Executive Summary。）
Henley & Partners - About Us
https://www.henleyglobal.com/about
Henley & Partners is the global leader in residence and citizenship planning. Each year, hundreds of wealthy individuals and their advisors rely on our expertise and experience in this area. The firm’s highly qualified professionals work together as one team in over 70 offices worldwide.
Henley & Partners – Hong Kong Office
https://www.henleyglobal.com/contact/office-hong-kong
维基百科：亨利及合伙人
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E4%BA%A8%E5%88%A9%E5%8F%8A%E5%90%88%E4%BC%99%E4%BA%BA
亨利及合伙人（Henley & Partners）是一家總部位於倫敦的英國投資移民諮詢公司，並告知個人客戶如何移民以及遷移企業至外國，或者是向個人客戶告知在瑞士等國家獲得居留權可以減少自己的稅收。一國政府可能也是亨利與合伙人的客戶，亨利及合伙人會向某國政府告知如何通過投資移民吸引別國人員的財富，甚至幫助該國政府制定和管理投資移民項目。亨利護照指數就是由亨利與合伙人發佈的。歷史：1997年，兩家公司合併成亨利及合伙人。2006 年，該公司與聖克里斯多福及尼維斯當局合作，替該國政府販賣該國的公民身份和護照。
The ‘Millionaire Exodus’ the UK Media Told You About
Never Actually Happened
The equivalent of 30 stories a day were published
about an exodus of wealthy people that a new study finds was “non existent”
Josiah Mortimer
Byline Times (10 June 2025)
Excerpt: A supposed millionaire “exodus” that was given blanket coverage in the British press – and which was credited to the Labour Government’s decision to weaken reforms to ‘non-dom’ tax avoiders – did not actually happen, according to a new study.
The media reporting, consisting of over 10,900 news pieces across print, broadcast and online news in 2024, was primarily based on a report published by Henley & Partners, a firm that helps arrange so-called ‘golden passports’, allowing the super-rich to secure residence rights or citizenship through investment or simply paying for it. The European Court of Justice recently ruled one such golden passport scheme, covering Malta, was unlawful.
The Tax Justice Network’s review – co-published with Patriotic Millionaires UK and Tax Justice UK – of the Henley report finds that the number of millionaires claimed by Henley & Partners to be leaving countries in “exodus” in 2024 represented almost zero percent of those countries’ millionaire populations.
Media reporting widely blamed the alleged millionaire exodus on tax policies in the same year that calls for a wealth tax on the super-rich gained unprecedented momentum globally. The media reporting was equivalent to 30 news pieces a day on the “non-existent” millionaire exodus across 2024.
Reviewing the full period from 2013 to 2024 for which the Henley report presents estimates on millionaire migration, the Tax Justice Network found that millionaire migration rates consistently stood at near-0% for every year.
Academic studies consistently show that it is very rare for wealthy people to relocate countries – uprooting their families – simply due to tax policy.
The UK Labour Government’s decision in January 2025 to weaken non-dom tax reform was widely reported to be a result of concerns about the Henley report’s findings (though a Treasury official gently denied this to Politico in January: “It’s not necessarily a response to reports we’re worried about the exodus of millionaires.”)
The Tax Justice Network’s review of the Henley ‘Exodus’ report flags several alleged methodological problems, as well as contradictions in Henley & Partner’s reporting.
Funny Figures
Strikingly, the Henley paper’s methodology states that its estimates were primarily a measure of where millionaires say they work on social media – largely LinkedIn profiles – and not of where they actually live or reside, meaning the report does not track actual, physical migration, contrary to how the estimates were presented in the press.
Moreover, the report uses a far narrower definition of ‘millionaires’ that does not include all dollar millionaires, like the standard definition (people with net worth of one million dollars or more). Instead, it only individuals with liquid assets worth one million dollars or more (e.g. excluding their primary residence), who are thus richer and more mobile on average than a standardly defined millionaire.
In the case of the UK, the ‘millionaires’ identified by the report represent just a fifth (20%) of the UK millionaire population. Even then, the report is based on a small sample from within these narrowly defined millionaires and the sample is skewed towards centi-millionaires and billionaires, who are also likely to be the most easily mobile.
Tax justice researchers found the use of the term “exodus” was also inconsistent in the analysis. In 2021, Henley described 2,000 millionaires leaving the UK as “insignificant” but in 2023 described 1,500 millionaires leaving the UK an “exodus”.
The Tax Justice Network wrote to Henley & Partners and New World Wealth (who prepared the Henley report’s estimates) with questions for each ahead of the publication of its review.
The tax firm reportedly responded: “It seems this entire debate is over that one word. The dictionary definition is just ‘mass migration’, and HMRC’s own data shows that the number of non-doms in the UK is decreasing year on year – which seems to be a mass migration. If you are looking to the biblical definition, then to use the term ‘exodus’ would of course mean that all non-doms are leaving, but I don’t think many people take biblical interpretations quite so literally?”
Henley & Partners labelled the UK’s alleged exit of millionaires a “Brexodus” in 2023, claiming that the exodus was largely an impact of Brexit.
But in October 2024, Henley relabelled the exodus a “Wexit” (wealth exit) in a press release framing the UK exodus as a reaction to tax hikes that might be announced in the UK Labour Government’s upcoming budget statement.
These claims appeared to be inconsistent with Henley’s forecast made the month prior in September 2024 that the UK centi-millionaire population is growing and will continue to grow from 2024 to 2040.
The Tax Justice Network’s review of the Henley report raises a number of other questions, including the statistical credibility of drawing any conclusions from an unrepresentative sample of “over 150,000 high-net-worth individuals” around the world. Henley & Partners told TJN authors: “Statistically, if it is consistent year by year, then laws of statistical sampling mean that it can be used to draw a conclusion.”
However, if the original sample is not representative, conclusions cannot be claimed to be representative of a wider group merely because the same skewed sample was used repeatedly.
The now-controversial report is published by Henley & Partners but was prepared by New World Wealth, which describes itself as a “wealth intelligence firm” on its website. New World Wealth appears to have only one staff member and does not appear to have made the data behind its calculations public. New World Wealth did not respond to TJN’s request for comment, the latter said.
A response sent by Henley & Partners to the Tax Justice Network said: “We have never claimed that Labour tax policies were the sole or root cause. If papers such as the Telegraph, Times, [and] Mail, decide to add their own layer on to that, and deliberately exclude from their story our standard reminder to them that these were the Conservatives’ tax changes, then I think your argument is with them not with us.”
Labour Bashing
In fairness, the Tax Justice Network’s analysis of media coverage of the Henley report finds that coverage often went “far beyond” any claims made in the report itself, contributing to an “entirely unfounded” narrative about the role of tax and Government policies in causing a millionaire exodus which itself did not occur.
Some examples of ‘misleading’ media reporting on the Henley paper:
Reuters: Ultra-rich
entrepreneurs threaten to desert Britain over tax
Bloomberg UK: Britain’s Ultra-Rich Map Out Routes to Escape ‘Non-Dom’ Taxes After
Labour Victory
CNN:
Millionaires fleeing Britain in their thousands
The Telegraph: Britain to suffer world’s biggest
exodus of millionaires as Labour takes power
CNBC: Millionaires
are abandoning the UK in droves, new research shows
Sky News: “Rachel Reeves is to water down her crackdown on the non-dom tax status
after analysis showed it had prompted an exodus of millionaires.”
CNBC: “The U.K. is
to soften some planned changes to its controversial non-dom tax rule following
concerns of a millionaire exodus, the Treasury has confirmed.”
The Independent: “Reeves to water down tax raid on non-doms amid exodus of millionaires”
The Times: “Rachel Reeves to relax non-dom tax rule amid millionaire exodus”
Alex Cobham, chief executive at the Tax Justice Network, said: “This is a wakeup call for media professionals and Governments alike. Do your homework when it comes to tax. Treat the Henley report and any such claims about fleeing millionaires with extreme caution, and make sure your stories and your policy decisions are based on robust evidence.”
Millionaire “exodus” claim backtracked but media
re-run story anyway
Tax Justice Network
Published: 24 June 2025
https://taxjustice.net/press/millionaire-exodus-claim-backtracked-but-media-re-run-story-anyway/
Excerpt: Migrating millionaires make up less than 1% of millionaire populations.
A non-existent millionaire exodus is being widely reported in the news again today, despite the authors of the claim backtracking on it following recent criticism by tax justice campaigners.
The media coverage is primarily based on a report published by Henley & Partners, a firm that sells golden passports to the superrich and advises governments on setting up such schemes. The European Court of Justice recently ruled one such scheme, that of Malta, to be unlawful. Over 10,900 news pieces across print, broadcast and online news were published in 2024 covering Henley & Partner’s claims.
The Tax Justice Network’s review of the Henley report – co-published earlier this month with Patriotic Millionaires UK and Tax Justice UK – finds that the number of millionaires claimed by Henley & Partners to be leaving countries in “exodus” in 2024 represented near-0% of those countries’ millionaire populations.
Reviewing the new figures from Henley & Partners today reveals the same conclusions.
The “record-number” of 142,000 millionaires that the Henley report claims are leaving countries in 2025 once again represent just 0.2% of the global millionaire population (60 million).
The migration rate of 0.2% is not only consistent with the average migration rate from 2013 to 2024, but is proportionally smaller than migration rates in 2016, 2017 and 2018, contrasting Henley’s claim of a record scale of migration.
Henley backtracks on “exodus” language
In article published as part of the latest report, Henley & Partners’ Group Tax Director Peter Ferrigno walks backs on the language of “exodus” that was loosely and inconsistently used in previous Henley reporting.
Ferrigno writes:
“As a tax adviser, I never thought that my key task on a given day recently would be to be looking up the meaning of ‘exodus’ in a dictionary to justify whether it had been applicable to use that word in the context of taxpayers changing countries. I had an interview lined up with a UK media publication later that day that was challenging the use of the term ‘exodus’ to describe the net outflow of millionaires from Britain since Brexit. …
“The dictionary also says it’s any mass departure of people. Philosophically, is around 1% of a population really a ‘mass departure’? It depends on what agenda the newspaper wants to make a story out of.”
Earlier this month, the Tax Justice Network not only challenged that a migration of less than 1% cannot be qualified as an “exodus” but also pointed out Henley & Partners’ inconsistent use of the term “exodus” in its reporting. In 2021, Henley described 2000 millionaires leaving the UK as “insignificant” but in 2023 described 1600 millionaires leaving the UK an “exodus”. In 2023, the 6500 millionaires claimed to be leaving India were described as “not particularly concerning” but redescribed in 2024 as a “wealth exodus”.
UK “record” migration proportionally smaller than other countries
The new Henley report claims that the UK is expected to see the largest exit of millionaires by any country since tracking began 10 years ago.
The 16,500 supposedly expected to leave the UK in 2025 represent just 0.63% of the UK’s millionaire population.
But taking Henley’s own estimates at face value, this UK move is smaller than India’s supposed 0.77% (6500) migration of its millionaire population in 2023, and South Africa’s supposed 0.66% (600) in 2024.
While the number of millionaires leaving the UK might be higher in absolute numbers, when put into perspective they are neither significant nor larger in proportional scale than previous migration rates reported by Henley & Partners.
Julia Davies, member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said:
“This report, like all the ones before it, is a complete non-story. Why should we bother giving a second glance to claims a mere half percent of millionaires might leave the UK?
“It’s a packed week for those with vested interest in prioritising the needs and habits of the super rich. Just a day after Reform launched their golden ticket policy for departing non-doms — which would excuse foreign wealth holders from paying their fair share — Henley and Partners, a company that promotes golden visas for the super rich, claim there’s a wealth exodus.
“Millionaires aren’t going anywhere — I know this because I am one; because this report claims only 0.6% are projected to leave; and because 81% of millionaires think it’s patriotic to pay their fair share. These cynical efforts to prioritise the political and financial interests of those who benefit from extreme wealth should be dismissed so we can get on with focusing on the needs of ordinary families here in Britain.”
Aleema Shivji, Interim Executive Director at Tax Justice UK said:
“Evidence from world-leading universities, academics and from very wealthy people themselves tells us that the overwhelming majority of millionaires want to keep the UK as the place they call home. Despite scaremongering reports with questionable methodologies, the super-rich are here to stay – nearly 100% of them preferring the UK over Dubai or Saudi Arabia. Moreover, they’re proud to pay their taxes and contribute to this country. Vested interests would like you to believe otherwise, but don’t be fooled by the wealth advisors and lobbyists that want to shape the system in their own interests.”
Alex Cobham, chief executive at the Tax Justice Network, said:
“As we’ve shown, the basis for Henley report’s estimate of millionaire migration is shaky at best. And it seems they’ve addressed literally none of the problems with the report’s methodology that we and other academics and journalists have pointed out – but they have at least backtracked on calling these insignificant migrations an ‘exodus’.
“The majority of people want taxes on the superrich, the majority of millionaires are saying tax us, and all credible studies find only small migration responses. But what the media reported, and the government seems to have listened to, was a fictional millionaire ‘exodus’ based on questionable data, published by a firm that helps the superrich buy their way out of the rules that apply to everybody else. Tax is our most powerful tool for creating more equal societies, but scare stories like these are used to talk down to people and to block positive change.”
“This should be a wakeup call for media professionals and government officials alike. Do your homework when it comes to tax. Treat the Henley report and any such claims about fleeing millionaires with extreme caution, and make sure your stories and your policy decisions are based on robust evidence.”
About Henley & Partners and New World Wealth
Henley & Partners was accused in a 2018 UK Parliamentary inquiry of meddling in the elections of Caribbean nations in return for the exclusive rights to sell golden passports. Henley & Partners told The Guardian it “fundamentally rejects any allegation of wrongdoing”. A recent Financial Times article identified an EU-sanctioned Russian businessman with links to the Ukraine invasion who could more easily circumvent travel restrictions due to a Maltese golden passport Henley helped him acquire in the past. A spokesperson for Henley & Partners told the Financial Times that while she “could not comment on individual cases because of missing information and data protection… an individual ‘may pass all the stringent due diligence tests imposed, but still go on to engage in criminal activity.’”
Golden passports are now unlawful in the EU following a successful court challenge brought by the European Commission against Malta’s scheme, on which Henley & Partners had advised. The Commission said such schemes pose serious risks for money laundering, tax evasion and corruption. Henley & Partners told media in response that it was “disappointed” but that the decision “will only increase the demand for specialized advisors”.
The report is published by Henley & Partners but prepared by New World Wealth, which describes itself as a “wealth intelligence firm” on its website. New World Wealth appears to have only one staff member and has not made the data behind its calculations public.
About the Tax Justice Network
The Tax Justice Network believes our tax and financial systems are our most powerful tools for creating a just society that gives equal weight to the needs of everyone. But under pressure from corporate giants and the super-rich, our governments have programmed these systems to prioritise the wealthiest over everybody else, wiring financial secrecy and tax havens into the core of our global economy. This fuels inequality, fosters corruption and undermines democracy. We work to repair these injustices by inspiring and equipping people and governments to reprogramme their tax and financial systems.
Tax Justice Network
https://taxjustice.net/take-back-control/
Our tax systems are like computer programmes that are constantly being revised and updated. Over the past few decades, the lines of code that determine how our tax systems run have been dictated to our governments by corporate giants chasing their own interests, while most of the public have been left out of the decision making process. It’s time we took back control. It’s time we reprogramme our tax systems to work for all of us.
Tax Justice Network – Our History
https://taxjustice.net/our-history/
About Patriotic Millionaires UK
Patriotic Millionaires UK is a nonpartisan network of British millionaires, from multiple industries and backgrounds from across the UK. It delivers a single mission – to leverage the voice of wealth to build a better Britain by changing the system to end extreme wealth and make those with it make their fair and proper contribution.
Patriotic Millionaires UK
https://patrioticmillionaires.uk/
About Tax Justice UK
The UK’s approach to tax isn’t working. Our government fails to raise enough money to support high quality public services and wealth is desperately under-taxed. We campaign for a fairer tax system that takes more from the very wealthy. A tax system that actively redistributes wealth to tackle inequality; and that funds high quality public services. Our mission is to ensure that everyone in the UK benefits from a fair and effective tax system. Tax Justice UK is a partner of – but independent from – the Tax Justice Network.
Tax Justice UK
The millionaire exodus myth
Tax Justice Network
10 June 2025
https://taxjustice.net/reports/the-millionaire-exodus-myth/
Excerpt: A millionaire exodus widely reported by news outlets around the world, and credited for the UK Labour government’s decision to weaken tax reforms, did not occur this report finds. Over 10,900 articles were published across print, broadcast and online news in 2024 mentioning an ‘exodus’ of millionaires and/or Henley & Partners’ claims on millionaire migrations.
To understand the reported phenomenon and its divergence from the existing literature, the Tax Justice Network examined the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report’s finding and analysed media coverage on the report’s subject matter.
These are our three key findings.
l Despite the headline-grabbing claims made, Henley
& Partners‘ own reports reveal that a millionaire exodus did not
occur. The reports find millionaires to be highly
immobile, with an effective near-0% rate of migration. In addition, none of the
stated findings provide any evidence that tax played any role in any relocation
of wealthy individuals.
l Second, we find serious, unanswered questions over the
methodology used to generate the data in Henley & Partners‘ reports; over the claims made about the results
that the methodology generates; and a number of inconsistent or entirely
contradictory claims. Any discussion or reporting of the findings should only
proceed with considerable caution.
l Thirdly, we find that media
coverage of the Henley & Partners reports, especially in UK media, has gone
far beyond any claims made in the reports themselves, contributing to an entirely unfounded
narrative about the role of tax and government policies in causing a
millionaire ‘exodus’ which itself did not occur. This
reporting of the supposed findings is likely to have contributed to damaging
policy decisions by the Labour government in particular.
l We expand on each of the above findings in this report. We make recommendations for great caution about Henley & Partners work to the public, to governments and to responsible media outlets.
This report is co-published with Patriotic
Millionaires UK and Tax Justice UK.
Millionaire exodus did not occur, study
reveals
Tax Justice Network
Published: 10 June 2025
Millionaire exodus numbers “fabricated”
warns forensic analysis; Tax Justice Network comments
Tax Justice Network
27 July 2025
Excerpt: The Henley & Partners report behind widely reported claims of millionaires migrating away from countries seems to have “fabricated” its numbers, according to a new forensic analysis published today in the Financial Times. The report’s statistics fail several standard forensic accounting techniques used to detect suspicious patterns in datasets that indicate manually entered or adjusted numbers.
Despite the Tax Justice Network’s detailed critique of the Henley report in early June 2025, and despite other criticisms of the report published by other academics, tax experts and journalists in 2024 and 2025, the 2025 edition of the Henley report published on 24 June 2025 was recently covered in over 3,000 news pieces in the month since it was published – equivalent to over 100 pieces a day.
Alex Cobham, chief executive at the Tax Justice Network, said:
“This simply confirms the Tax Justice Network’s thorough debunking of these scare stories, and shows just how far the opponents of fair wealth taxes are willing to go. Governments should take heed, and wise up.”
“78% of Britons and 80% of UK millionaires support a wealth tax but the UK government and media instead listened to what seems to be the fabrication of lobbyists. The UK must reassert the will of its people in its tax policy, and begin again to tax extreme wealth.
“It takes two to tango with public misinformation, and the newsrooms that published over 14,000 news pieces over the past year fanning these scare stories should be today questioning their enthusiasm to ignore the warnings and fuel the fire.”
To date, Henley & Partners:
l
Has been accused in a 2018 UK parliamentary inquiry of trying to meddle
in the elections of Caribbean nations
l
Has been accused in 2025 of providing services to Russian businessmen
that would later make it easier for the businessmen to circumvent sanctions
l Had a golden passport scheme it
facilitates and helped design be ruled unlawful by the EU’s top court in 2025
l
Accused today of publishing a report with numbers that are highly likely
to be fabricated, and which is widely credited for preventing tax changes in
the UK.
l
Academic studies consistently show that the tax responses of the wealthy
involve minimal levels of migration.9 The vast majority (78%) of the UK public
support a wealth tax10, and so do 80% of UK millionaires.
The myth-buster’s guide to the “millionaire
exodus” scare story
Mark Bou Mansour
Tax Justice Network
July 24 2025
Millionaires are staying where they are, despite over 18000 news pieces published around the world since the start of 2024 claiming otherwise. The news reporting is largely based on a report by golden passport sellers Henley & Partners, and has resulted in the UK government giving more generous tax breaks to some of the wealthiest households.
We’ve put together this short guide to help cut through the noise.
Less than 1% – that’s how many millionaires are supposedly leaving
News reporting about millionaires leaving almost always present numbers but not percentages. For example, the 16,500 millionaires supposedly leaving the UK is less than 1% of UK millionaires. When put into perspective, the number of millionaires supposedly leaving is statistically insignificant. This has been consistently the case at a global level since 2013, when the claims began.
The report’s author admits his data is “skewed” but won’t make it public
The author of the Henley report has publicly acknowledged the data behind the claims is “skewed” towards much wealthier centi-millionaires and billionaires, which means it’s unrepresentative of millionaires in general and so can’t support the claims in the news. The data is primarily based on where people said they work on social media, not on actual migration. The report author has not made his data public for others to verify.
The report’s definition of “millionaires” leaves out most millionaires
The report defines “millionaires” as people with more than $1 million in liquid assets, which leaves out most millionaires whose main asset is likely to be their home, and focuses on the most mobile millionaires. For the UK, this leaves out 75% of millionaires. This is almost never made clear in news reporting. Even with this narrower definition, the number of “liquid millionaires” leaving are still a tiny percentage: less than 3% of the UK’s “liquid millionaires”.
The report factchecks its own claims about wealth exodus in a footnote
The report makes claims about how much wealth the millionaires supposedly leaving represent, which many news stories have presented as the wealth that will be lost from a country when millionaires move away. The report’s methodology quietly acknowledges this isn’t the case, and that many will keep “much of their wealth” where it is.
Most millionaires support a wealth tax
News reporting has focused on a statistically insignificant number of millionaires supposedly migrating and mostly ignored the 80% of UK millionaires who support a wealth tax (58% across G20 countries).
More extreme wealth shrinks economies
The idea that governments should be worried about superrich individuals leaving misses the point on the harms of extreme wealth. The rise of extreme wealth is directly linked to lower economic productivity, more households going into debt and to people living shorter lives.
Extreme wealth is collected, not earned, and is taxed much less than earned wealth
Most people primarily earn wealth (wages and salaries
for work) but the superrich primarily collect wealth (dividends and rent for
owing things). Collected wealth is often taxed much less than earned wealth,
which helps the superrich get richer faster, which shrinks economies. Wealth
taxes end the special treatment wealth collectors get over wealth earners,
which is necessary for protecting people, economies and planet.
HMRC data debunks UK non-dom exodus claims, FT reports
Mark Bou Mansour
Tax Justice Network
14 August 2025
PRESS RELEASE - Projection and polling of UK
millionaires
Patriotic Millionaires UK
Jun 5, 2025
https://patrioticmillionaires.uk/latest-news/uk-millionaire-poll-2025
Excerpt: 80% of UK millionaires support a
2% tax on wealth over £10 million and 72% think Government should raise taxes
on the super-rich to reduce taxes on everyone else. New poll of UK
millionaires also shows over 80% think it’s patriotic to pay their fair share in
tax. A new survey of millionaires has revealed the majority are in favour of
paying more tax.
Patriotic Millionaires UK – About Us
https://patrioticmillionaires.uk/about-us
Excerpt: The mission of Patriotic Millionaires UK is to leverage the voice of wealth to build a more just, stable, and inclusive economy and to accelerate the end of extreme wealth.
Our shared vision is a just and inclusive society - in the UK and beyond. This can only be achieved by addressing the destabilising levels of economic and political inequality; challenging the concentration of wealth and power, nationwide and around the world. We are proud when our tax contribution increases - it is a great investment in our shared interests. We do not have a wealth problem – we have a distribution problem.
To tackle the crisis of extreme wealth we promote and advocate for action on three pillars of the political economy:
l Wealth must pay fair and taxes must be progressive. Revenue raised from millionaires,
billionaires, and corporations should make up a significantly larger proportion
of tax receipts.
l Work should be fairly rewarded. Every person contributing to the paid and unpaid economy should be able
to afford their basic needs. Our economic system should benefit all
stakeholders and the balance of reward should lean towards work rather than
wealth.
l Wealth should not buy or corrupt politics. Trust in democracy is dependent on us removing the undue influence of
wealth. Every citizen, irrespective of class, gender, ability, race, or
ethnicity, should enjoy political power equal to that enjoyed by millionaires.
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