Overview
- The Adam Smith Institute's millionaire tracker, published in late July 2026, estimated 442,000 UK resident millionaires in 2025, a 7% fall from 2024 and the lowest count since the 2008 crisis.
- The tracker measures adults with at least £1 million in constant‑price net assets, including property, pensions, savings and investments, which makes the series sensitive to real asset and pension value moves.
- The ASI attributed the decline to higher interest rates, falling real asset values and a lower household savings rate alongside policy changes such as the abolition of the non‑dom regime.
- Official data is more cautious about a mass exodus: HMRC records showed 60,700 residents registered with a permanent home abroad in the year to April 2024, and statisticians note limits in annual millionaire counts.
- The report has sharpened a policy fight over taxes, with the ASI urging abolition of inheritance tax and cuts to capital gains tax while ministers have not adopted those proposals and debate over wealth taxes and CGT equalisation continues.