Why India’s Millionaire Outflow Is Rising Even as the Economy Grows

India’s rise in 2025 is impossible to miss. GDP growth remains the fastest among major economies, the Sensex and Nifty are hitting new highs, India is projected to become the world’s 4th-largest economy by 2026, and companies like Apple, Tesla suppliers, and global banks are expanding their India footprint.

Yet, there’s another reality quietly unfolding behind this success story: India is losing its millionaires faster than ever before.
New 2025 projections from Henley & Partners estimate that nearly 8,500 millionaires may leave India this year — the highest outflow India has ever seen. And the Kotak–EY 2024–25 Wealth Report confirms that more than 20% of India’s ultra-rich are actively planning to migrate.
This raises a fundamental question:
Why are India’s richest choosing to leave during India’s richest decade?

India posted a strong 7%+ growth for the third year in a row and recently overtook Hong Kong to become the 4th-largest stock market in the world. Manufacturing is rising, digital exports are surging, and India is on track for a USD 5 trillion economy by 2026.

But despite the macro success, many wealthy families feel the country hasn’t yet built the institutional support that matches its economic ambitions. The speed of growth and the speed of institutional improvement are not aligned.

2025 coverage in global financial media repeatedly highlights two themes reported by Indian UHNWIs:

• unpredictability,
• and lack of basic urban comfort.

India is rising — but to the wealthy, it still doesn’t “feel” stable. RBI data for 2024–25 shows outward remittances under LRS have crossed USD 30 billion for the first time, driven by real estate investments in Dubai, Canada, and Portugal.

Compared to FY2021–22, outward remittances have jumped nearly 50% in just three years.

Meanwhile, FDI inflows continue to soften. For FY2023–24, India recorded a further decline, falling below the FY2022–23 figure of USD 71 billion.

India is not losing the poor — it is losing the investing class. This is the most important new 2025 insight.

The Kotak–EY survey of UHNWIs (net worth ₹25 crore and above) shows:

• 21% have already begun the migration process
• Another 13% are “seriously considering” it
• Over 60% plan to send children abroad permanently

This shift is sharper than any previous decade.

Global residency is no longer a luxury — it has become a risk management tool. Yes, India’s top personal tax rate is steep at 42.74%.
But the wealthy say the real problem is something else:
the emotional unpredictability of the tax system.

Frequent changes, retrospective actions, compliance burdens, and the fear of interpretational ambiguity make the ultra-rich feel exposed.
In contrast, 2025 favourites like:

• Dubai,
• Singapore,
• Portugal’s modified NHR program,
• Greece's Golden Visa, offer simple, transparent, and stable rules.

For wealth creators, certainty matters more than tax cuts. Henley’s 2025 forecast paints a worrying picture:

• 6,500 millionaire departures in 2023
• 7,200+ in 2024
• 8,500 projected in 2025, pushing India past Australia to the second-highest millionaire exodus in the world

These are not merely rich families. They are:

• startup founders,
• angel investors,
• technology leaders,
• business owners.

When they move, they take their capital, networks, and innovation ecosystems with them. The wealthy are no longer patient with “bad basics.”

Key 2025 indicators:

• 39 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities are still in India.
• Public healthcare spending remains at 2.1% of GDP, unchanged for years.
• Education spending is only 2.9% of GDP — half of what UNESCO recommends.
• Indian metros continue to struggle with congestion, water shortages, and waste management.

Wealthy families aren’t seeking luxury — they are seeking breathable air, reliable hospitals, and predictable daily life.
Dubai, Singapore, and Toronto deliver that immediately.
Indian metros do not — not yet. India’s courts have a backlog of 52+ million cases, and civil matters often stretch beyond a decade.

In 2025, Transparency International again placed India in the bottom half of the global corruption index, ranking 93 out of 180.

Regulatory uncertainty in sectors like fintech, crypto, and digital commerce also pushes entrepreneurs to operate from overseas environments where rules are clearer and faster.

For the wealthy, time is the most expensive currency — and India consumes too much of it. India’s ultra-rich increasingly acknowledge a strange paradox: they are wealthier than ever, but more uncomfortable than ever.
The World Inequality Report shows:

• Top 1% owns 22% of income
• Bottom 50% owns 13%

This makes the wealthy feel highly visible — and often, socially unsafe.
Migration becomes a way to step out of the spotlight.

The story of 2025 is not “India is failing.”
It is “India is rising - but unevenly.”