The BRICS Wealth Report

Henley & Partners, the leading international residence and citizenship advisory firm, has collaborated with global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth to produce the inaugural BRICS Wealth Report.

BRICS Country and City Wealth Data

New World Wealth is currently the only known independent wealth research firm systematically tracking global wealth migration trends between countries and cities. The firm tracks the movements of over 150,000 high-net-worth individuals in its in-house database, with a special focus on those with over USD 30 million in listed company holdings. The database’s primary focus is on company founders (50%+ of the database) and affluent individuals from high-value companies who hold the following positions: chairperson, CEO, president, director, and managing partner.

New World Wealth relies primarily on this database when assessing the city wealth breakdowns featured in this report. The firm uses various public sources to check city locations, including LinkedIn and other business portals. The data also takes into account prime property statistics — specifically, it considers the number of highly priced homes in each city/area.

Note: It should be noted that New World Wealth never gives out the names of the individuals in its database, which it uses purely for in-house statistical studies.

Notes and definitions

For the purpose of this report, ‘wealth’ refers to an individual’s investable wealth, which includes only their liquid investable assets, namely, listed company holdings, cash holdings, and debt-free residential property holdings.

The terms ‘millionaires’ or ‘high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs)’ refer to individuals with investable wealth of USD 1 million or more.

The term ‘centi-millionaires’ refers to individuals with investable wealth of USD 100 million or more.

The term ‘billionaires’ refers to individuals with investable wealth of USD 1 billion or more.

‘Wealth growth’ refers to the rise or drop in the number of millionaires over a certain period in percentage terms. New World Wealth’s forecasts take into account:

• Country GDP forecasts. These are obtained from reputable global sources such as the Economist Intelligence Unit and the IMF.
• The competitive advantages of certain countries or cities. For example, Shenzhen and Bengaluru are the top tech hubs in BRICS, which should boost their wealth growth prospects over the next decade.
• Recent millionaire migration trends. We consider these to be a predictor of future wealth growth trends.
• Safety and security. Crime significantly impedes economic development and wealth growth as it increases uncertainty, discourages long-term investment and new employment opportunities, and erodes the rule of law.
• Political stability. A volatile socio-political environment negatively affects both economic growth and wealth growth.
• Media freedom and neutrality. These are key to wealth creation as they instill confidence in long-term investment and they also hold lawbreakers to account.
• Economic sanctions. Penalties such as asset seizures, export restrictions, trade embargoes, and travel bans obstruct growth prospects in a country.

‘Wealth per capita’ refers to the average ‘investable wealth’ of a person in each country. Countries with the highest wealth per capita globally include Monaco and Switzerland.

Wealth versus GDP

We consider wealth to be a far better measure of the financial health of an economy than GDP. The reasons for this include:

• In many countries in the Global South, a large portion of GDP flows to the government and therefore has little impact on private wealth creation.
• GDP counts items multiple times. For instance, if someone is paid USD 100 for a product or a service and they then pay someone else that same USD 100 for another product or service, USD 200 will be added to the country’s GDP despite the fact that only USD 100 was produced at the outset.
• GDP ignores the efficiency of a country’s banking sector and stock market in retaining wealth.
• GDP largely overlooks the impact of property and stock market moves, yet these two factors clearly have a significant impact on wealth.
• GDP is a relatively static measure that tends to move only slightly year on year. It also has a time lag.

Wealth figures, on the other hand, have none of these limitations, making them a far more accurate gauge of the true financial health of an economy than its GDP figures.

About New World Wealth

New World Wealth was established in 2013 and has been tracking the movements and spending habits of the world’s wealthiest people for over a decade. The firm has an impressive track record in providing robust, reliable wealth data and insights for key publications, such as Knight Frank’s Wealth Report, AfrAsia Bank’s Global Wealth Migration Review, and Henley & Partners’ Africa Wealth Report, Centi-Millionaire Report, Crypto Wealth Report, USA Wealth Report, and World’s Wealthiest Cities Report as well as the Henley Private Wealth Migration Dashboard and the Henley Wealth and Sustainability Report. The firm’s reports and findings have been referenced by the Australian and UK governments, as well as by global news outlets such as the BBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Forbes, the New York Times, Robb Report, and the Telegraph.

For more information on New World Wealth, please visit newworldwealth.com

BRICS Passport Power, Global Mobility, and Openness Data

The exclusive passport power, global and economic mobility, and openness data for BRICS members is derived from the Henley Passport Index, the Henley Openness Index, and the Henley Passport Power Index and include World Bank GDP and population figures.

Henley Passport Index

The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of 199 world passports, assessing the travel freedom granted to citizens based on the number of destinations accessible without a prior visa. The complete methodology is available here.

Henley Openness Index

The Henley Openness Index is the authoritative ranking of 199 countries/territories worldwide according to the number of nationalities each allows to cross its borders without a prior visa. This index offers valuable insights into a country’s global openness and its capacity to attract international visitors for both tourism and trade. The complete methodology is detailed here.

Henley Passport Power Index

Henley Passport Power evaluates countries based on the percentage of global GDP to which their passport holders have visa-free access. The maximum score is 100, signifying unrestricted access to 100% of global GDP. The complete methodology is available here.

Disclaimer

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This report is distributed for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice. It should not form the basis of any decision. The information contained in this report is not, and shall not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy or an offer to purchase any securities, nor should it be deemed to be an offer, or a solicitation of an offer, to purchase or sell any investment product or service. Henley & Partners is not responsible for the content of websites and information resources that may be referenced in this report. The information contained in this report is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication, but is subject to change without notice. Henley & Partners does not have any obligation to provide revisions in the event of changed circumstances. Henley & Partners and its affiliates, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any liability or loss whatsoever, including but not limited to direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages, arising out of or in connection with the use or reliance on the information contained in this report. The information in this report is provided “as is” and Henley & Partners makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the information contained in this report for any purpose. 

The BRICS Wealth Report was published on 30 January 2024.