"They don't view their success as being related or dependent on a single country, but on their own business strategies. It's amazing to me how many of the very wealthy are going totally mobile."

The rich have always been a restless class, of course, moving with the seasons or the social circuit.

But the current wave of millionaire migrations seems to have reached a new level, with wealthy families changing citizenship, sending their children overseas or moving permanently to the nation of their choice.

Rather than fleeing economic ruin or conflict, millionaire migrants are shopping the world for the best schools, financial safety and lifestyle.

Technology, coupled with the rise of global markets and global investors, has given rise to multinational millionaires who increasingly have no nation.

According to New World Wealth, a market research firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa, the number of millionaires moving to another country jumped 28 per cent in 2016 from the previous year, reaching the highest level the firm has found in its four years of measuring.

Millionaire migration has grown 60 per cent since 2013, the firm's findings show, and there are no signs that it is slowing.

Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, said he expected the ranks of millionaires on the move to top 100,000 within the next two to three years.


That's still a small slice of the estimated 13.6 million millionaires around the world, defined as those having at least $1 million in assets (minus liabilities), not including their primary residence.

New World Wealth's data includes only millionaires who have physically moved to a country for a period of at least six months. It uses surveys, real-estate data and research with relocation firms and other specialists for its estimates.

Add to those numbers the wealthy who have changed or added citizenships, those who spend part of their time in various countries or own homes in multiple nations, and the numbers grow much larger.

"We looked at the people who truly moved," Amoils said. "But the universe of multinational wealth is obviously much larger."

Australia is No.1

The map of migration is also changing rapidly. Australia is the world's top destination for millionaires, beating the United States for the second straight year, according to New World Wealth.

An estimated 11,000 millionaires moved to Australia in 2016, compared with the 10,000 who moved to the United States.

Canada ranked third, with 8,000, followed by the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand.

As for countries that millionaires are fleeing, France tops the list, with 12,000 moving out during 2016.

The New York Times