Wealthy Chinese and Singaporeans want to leave their home countries

Nearly half of China's wealthy want to move to another more developed country in the next five years.

According to a Barclays survey of 2,000 high net-worth individuals with more than $1.5 billion in total net worth, 47% of Chinese said they are looking to shift countries. This is compared with a global average of 29%.

High net-worth individuals in Singaporeans are also keen to leave home, with 23% wanting to move within the next five years. In fact, China is the top destination for Singaporeans wanting to flee, with 30% saying they want to move there.

Twenty per cent of wealthy individuals from the UK also want to leave their home country, followed by 16% in Hong Kong. Those least likely to move countries include the wealthy in America and India, at 6% and 5% respectively.

The main reason Chinese want to move abroad are better education and employment opportunities for their children (78%). This is followed by economic security and a better climate (73%) and better health care and other social services (18%).

They want to move to Hong Kong (30%) as well as Canada (23%) the survey found.

“The reality is that most ultra-high net worth individuals in China are probably making money in China right now,” said Liam Bailey, head of residential research at London-based broker Knight Frank LLP, in the report.

“So, for business reasons, they need to be relatively close. That might prevent some of them going further afield.”

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