More than 7,000 millionaire migrants entered Australia in just a year
Australia is seeing a surge in millionaires migrating to the country, with the number rising dramatically to 7,260 in the past year.
The numbers are boosted by an Asian-led millionaire boom driving investment in Sydney and Melbourne.
New figures compiled by the Australian Department of Home Affairs and the Federal Government migration report show a multibillion-dollar investment boost for Australia as the country is fast becoming one of the most favoured destinations of choice for thousands of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
The high growth recorded in Australia and New Zealand is particularly impressive. Both countries are already well-developed markets making it into the top 10 wealth per capita rankings worldwide.
Normally countries that start from a “high wealth per capita base” struggle to record this type of wealth growth, the Federal Government report said.
The number of millionaires has surged to 7,260 in the past year, according to data from the Department of Home Affairs. The data challenges claims that Australia’s high-income tax rate is discouraging international investors.
It also shows that applicants for the investment visa increased by 74.4%, from 9,051 to 15,781 in the 2016-17 financial years according to the Federal Government migration report.
The visa – known as the Business Innovation and Investment visa – requires applicants to invest at least AU$1.5 million in Australia. The visa applications in this programme, which include investors with more than AU$1 million in business assets, jumped 74% in 2016-17, up from 5,781 to 9,051. Of those 7,260 were approved, compared with 6,484 in 2014-15.
A fast-track significant investor stream that requires applicants to invest AU$5 million in Australia has accepted 1,974 applicants as of March 2018.
The majority of applicants for this visa were from China, with 86.5% of visas granted out of 88.1% of applications from Asian countries.
The “significant investor stream” urge investors to stump investment for Australian bonds, shares and venture capital projects. By March 2018, up to 2,000 had been approved, delivering a AU$10 billion windfall to the Australian economy, despite a slowdown after property was excluded from the category in 2015.
The Business Council of Australia and Ernst & Young told a Senate inquiry in June that the top income tax rate needed to be trimmed to keep high-net worth individuals from tax havens such as Singapore.
But an AfrAsia Bank report reveals that Australia far outpaced its Southeast Asian neighbour last year in attracting lucrative moneymakers. Singapore, with its very famous 15% tax rate, only attracted a thousand millionaires.
Education opportunities, a favourable climate, the safety of women and political security were among the top reasons cited by investors in a New World Wealth survey of high-net-worth clients.
Political instability of Brexit had been a boon for millionaire migration to Australia as well as the relative strength of the local healthcare system compared with the US and the absence of inheritance taxes.
Australia’s proximity to Asia and its time zone were also cited by wealthy Asian migrants as key factors behind their decision.
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