Wealthy individuals are increasingly spreading their residency, citizenship, and business interests across multiple countries rather than anchoring their lives to a single jurisdiction.
International investment migration firm Henley & Partners’ Private Wealth Migration Report 2026 found that Singapore, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Hong Kong and New Zealand are becoming some of the more sought-after locations for internationally mobile wealth this year, while the UK, Germany, France, Norway and South Korea are losing ground as tax changes, budget instability and shifting government policy push affluent households to look elsewhere.
The report flags two particular pressure points likely to redraw the wealth map in 2026.
The first is the US, which remains the world's biggest private wealth market and continues to generate vast amounts of new wealth, yet is simultaneously producing unprecedented demand among its own affluent citizens for residence and citizenship options abroad.
The second is the Gulf region, where the UAE has been the top destination for relocating millionaires for the past two years but is now seeing its wealthy residents draw up contingency plans as regional conflict tests the durability of the area's wealth hubs.
Henley & Partners said it had taken in applications from 86 nationalities across 47 investment migration schemes during the first five months of 2026. More than 28% of those applying already live outside their home country, a pattern the firm says reflects a broader move toward wealthy families building lives that straddle several jurisdictions at once rather than staying rooted in one.
Juerg Steffen, chief executive at Henley & Partners, said governments could no longer count on their richest residents staying put.
"For much of the past century, governments could largely treat their wealthiest residents as a relatively fixed asset – rooted by businesses, family ties, and limited international mobility. That assumption is becoming increasingly outdated," he said. "As a result, jurisdictions are competing not only for capital, but also for the entrepreneurs, investors, business owners, and skilled individuals who drive economic growth, innovation, employment, and prosperity."
Singapore topped the new scoring system with a Wealth Mobility Competitiveness Score of 79.5, followed by New Zealand at 75.8. A second tier of strong performers includes the Cayman Islands at 74.3, Cyprus at 73.5, the Netherlands at 72.8, Portugal at 72.5, Italy at 72.3 and Bermuda at 72.0.
Uruguay, Latvia, Panama, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Greece, Costa Rica and Monaco also placed among the more competitive markets, with scores ranging from 70.0 to 71.8.
A separate group of what the report terms competitive jurisdictions under pressure includes Germany at 69.7, Norway at 69.0, the UK at 68.3, South Korea at 66.2 and France at 65.7.
Markets facing more entrenched structural challenges in attracting and retaining wealth include Brazil at 64.2, China at 60.5, Russia at 58.7, India at 56.5, Iran at 45.8, Lebanon at 45.5 and Nigeria at 43.0.
The US scored just 62.3 on the new framework despite its scale, a result Henley & Partners attributes to a paradox: America generates more wealth, entrepreneurship and capital formation than any other country, but it is also the firm's single largest source market for applications.
Applications from US nationals doubled in 2025 versus the prior year and have stayed elevated into 2026. Only 7% of those applications came from Americans already living abroad, meaning the bulk of the demand is coming from people currently based in the US rather than expatriates.
The UAE posted one of the highest scores in the framework at 85.3, underpinned by its tax position, ease of access for investors, family inclusion policies, safety record, connectivity and long-term residence options.
Even so, Henley & Partners logged a 41% jump in enquiries from individuals based in the UAE between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, alongside a 29% rise in applications for alternative residence or citizenship over the same window.
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