The Global Wealth Review, which tracks wealth data and migration trends, reports Australia is the top country worldwide for millionaire inflows, beating out traditional destinations such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
This is the second year Australia has welcomed more millionaires than any other country.
Global wealth migration is accelerating, GWR says, with about 82,000 millionaires coming into the nation last year compared to 64,000 in 2015.
The reason Australia has been attractive to the HNW market is its health-care system, as well as its geographic location, making it a convenient base for business dealings with Asia, GWR says.
There were about 13.6 million millionaires in the world at the end of 2016. Their combined wealth was $69 trillion, GWR reports.
Global wealth is expected to rise substantially over the coming decade. A review of trends and asset value expectations indicates a 35 percent increase in value of high-net-worth (HNW) holdings by 2026.
Top performing wealth markets are expected to be Vietnam, China, India, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, based on emerging economic growth forecasts.
Still, Western-centric economies will continue to hold their own if lower taxes and trade power produce gains.
Instability in Europe is likely to be short-lived, GWR says. The U.K. saw a 5 percent decline in HNW wealth last year on the heels of the Brexit vote. However, Brexit is expected to be a net positive for the U.K. over the long term due to lower taxes being introduced and new trade alliances.
The U.S. ranked first as the richest country in the world, with $51.3 trillion of wealth holdings. China came in second with $19.1 trillion. Japan ranked third with $16 trillion.
Wealth holdings were calculated by GWR based on property, cash, equities and business interests, and excluding liabilities.
On a per capita basis, people living in small tax havens like Monaco and Liechtenstein were among the richest. The average net worth per person in Monaco was $1.7 million, followed by Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, where people had $640,00 and $300,000 each, respectively.
