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If it is true that i millionaires they use their purchasing power in sectors with high added value, refined restaurants, luxury hotels, high-end fashion, valuable real estate – as the London experts at Henley&Partners explain in the annual report on migrants from paradise – we should not be surprised by the Milanoincreasingly hostile to those who don’t have, if not six, at least five zeros in their current account.

1 H&P analysis

The Lombard capital it is in fact at the top of the H&P ranking, not so much in absolute numbers (eleventh city in the world for six- and seven-figure millionaire residents of pure liquidity excluding real estate, nineteenth in that of centmillionaires) but above all it stands on the podium in the ratio between residents and the rich or very rich.

In Milan, for every 12 inhabitants registered in the registry office, including the elderly and newborns, there is a millionaire – in the sense of a person with a liquid portfolio of at least six figures, net of real estate assets – when in the capital of world finance, New York City, the ratio is one in every 22, in London one in every 41, in Rome one in every 54. The same Paris in the strait intramuros (only 2.14 million inhabitants) has one millionaire for every 14 residents.

Even more suggestive is the analysis of the index between centimillionaires (at least 100 million liquid dollars in the portfolio) which in Milan today are 182, so to speak almost the same as the Principality of Monaco (192), more than the entire canton of Zurich, more than Miami and even Moscow. But, above all, in this special ranking, Milan, together with Dubai and Miami, is the only city in the leading group to be characterized by the forecast of “high growth” for potential new arrivals.

The “little” Milan in the shadow of the Madonnina records a super-super-rich every 7,692 residents, at the level of the record of Los Angeles (one every 7,558) and Paris (in the intra muros alone one every 7,743 residents) and sideways ahead of New York (one every 10,757 inhabitants) and London (one every 25,244).

2 Escape from London and optional regime

The reason for the success is quickly explained by the experts of city ​​of Londona capital which since last year has been the scene of the largest flight of global billionaires in history, due to Labor’s revocation of the century-old “non-dom” tax rule: the “centrality of Milan as a global hub for business, finance, fashion and design”.

Let’s be clear, the charm of Milan and all the rest of the narrative would not be enough if the so-called «optional regime» of article 24-bis of the TUIR, better known as the “Ronaldo decree” (the champion who chose Juventus also or perhaps only for this reason). Since then the number of new high-spending “Italians” has grown by 20%, a non-trivial performance for a G7 economy and for an already mature and wealthy financial center.

To understand the attractiveness of fiscal policy still in force today, the 3,600 new millionaire/multi-millionaire/billionaire residents who arrived in Italy in 2025 – almost all of whom then stopped and based in Milan – brought with them 20.7 billion dollars (dry average of 5.7 million dollars each, including family members), on which, thanks to the “optional regime”, they only pay the flat tax of 200 thousand euros: it is the price of attractiveness on which, it is good to know, dozens of unsuspected countries compare and compete today, with the USA as the leader.

3 Inheritance taxes

But among the success factors of the country system (and therefore of the city state of Milan) there is a second and not negligible pillar: the inheritance taxes. If Australia, Austria, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Israel, Mauritius, Malta, Monaco, New Zealand, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates do not know the meaning, Italyshows the market a welcoming 4%, in line with usual Swiss traditions. The British City’s point of view on the new Alpine paradises is interesting. “THE’Italia offers structured residency pathways for those attracted by its cultural richness, central location and evolving business climate, while the economic stability, high quality of life and enduring appeal of Swiss among individuals with significantly higher net worth at a global level continue to attract wealthy families in search of secure, long-term value.”

4 The effect on the labor market

Having noted the “minuses” of the impact of super millionaire new residents on the pre-existing population, the debate remains open on the possible “pluses”, at least from the perspective of those who “move” the cards of this market.

According to the most accredited international reports, also taken from the same Henley&Partners screening, «individuals with a high net worth who move (around 15%) are entrepreneurs and founders companies, who often set up operations in their new country, thus creating local jobs. This percentage rises to over 60% for centmillionaires and billionaires.”

As for job creation, «perhaps the most important thing is that high net worth individuals create indirectly thousands of jobs well-compensated through their purchasing power, especially in high-value sectors such as luxury hotels, fine dining, luxury retail, high-end fashion, prime real estate, high-tech, wealth management and family offices.” And finally the millionaires «fuel the stock market local through their equity investments. Also because some entrepreneurs with high net worth can list their companies on the local stock exchange.” If it’s a prophecy, fingers will probably begin to be crossed in Piazza Affari.