LONDON, Dec. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A sharp acceleration in global wealth migration in 2025 is colliding with rapidly diverging private healthcare costs worldwide, making the availability and costs of reliable private care a decisive factor in where high-net-worth families choose to live, invest, and secure residence or citizenship rights.

New client data released today by global leaders in citizenship and residence planning, Henley & Partners, confirms record demand for cross-border planning and highlights healthcare cost exposure as a critical “hidden variable” shaping long-term destination decisions for globally mobile families.

Record Global Demand is Reshaping Priorities

Henley & Partners has received applications from 92 nationalities this year (2025) and supported demand across 50+ residence and citizenship programs. Over the past five years, the firm has assisted applicants from 136 nationalities, underscoring the scale and diversity of today's wealth-migration movement. Comparing the first three quarters of 2024 with the same period in 2025, the firm has seen a 43% increase in applications — a clear signal of intensifying cross-border mobility among affluent families.

“Global mobility is becoming a core risk-management strategy for wealthy families,” according to Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners. “As clients build lives across multiple jurisdictions, they are scrutinizing not only access to residence and citizenship, but also the real cost of sustaining that lifestyle — especially the price of reliable private healthcare. Destinations that look attractive on paper can become far less so once true healthcare exposure is understood.”

New Evidence Turns Healthcare Costs into a Core Mobility Metric

To support clients' destination decisions, Henley & Partners is referencing the newly published SIP Health Cost Index (HCI) 2025 — a systematic benchmark of the true cost of private healthcare for internationally mobile individuals and families across 50 key countries, based on International Private Medical Insurance (IPMI) premiums. While Henley & Partners leads on residence and citizenship planning, the Index provides a vital complementary lens: private healthcare costs can materially change a destination's long-term affordability and suitability, especially for families managing children's needs, ageing parents, or elective cross-border treatment.

“Private healthcare costs are rising worldwide, but the pace and pattern differ dramatically. Two-tier healthcare systems where the highest-quality care is often accessible only to those who can afford it and are well insured, is increasing,” notes Kevin Buerchler, CEO of SIP Medical Family Office. “Only in a handful of healthcare excellence hubs we see the kind of quality and accessibility needed for global families, which makes navigating quality and cost of care more important than ever.”

Where Costs are Highest — and Where the Shocks are Emerging

The Index confirms familiar high-cost leaders. The United States ranks as the world's most expensive private healthcare market, with average annual IPMI-based costs of USD 17,969 per person, followed by Hong Kong (USD 16,175) and Singapore (USD 14,231). These markets set a high baseline for insurance premiums and household healthcare budgeting.

More consequential for relocation planning, however, are the unexpected shifts beyond traditional hubs. Emerging Asia has entered the high-cost tier, with China, Thailand, and Taiwan now among the world's top twelve most expensive private-care markets. Strong demand for premium international hospitals and regional medical travel are pushing up inpatient costs sharply, even where routine outpatient care remains relatively inexpensive — creating significant budget surprises for relocating families.

Europe, the Middle East, and other Value Destinations

Europe shows one of the widest spreads in private-care costs, with the United Kingdom, Greece, and Spain among the region's most expensive markets, partly due to Insurance Premium Tax in the UK and Greece. Switzerland sits mid-table, illustrating that a country's reputation for expensive healthcare does not always translate into the same IPMI exposure for global families.

In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates ranks 10th worldwide, reflecting the rapid expansion of high-end healthcare infrastructure and medical-tourism ambitions — high-quality access, but with corresponding premium costs.

For clients balancing quality with affordability, Africa and much of Latin America remain comparatively cost-effective. Morocco is the lowest-cost market globally at USD 6,251 per year, alongside other lower-cost countries such as Romania, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa. The major exception is Brazil, ranked 7th worldwide, indicating that some Latin American destinations now rival traditional high-cost markets for premium private care.

What this Means for Migrating Millionaires

As wealth-migration volumes rise, private healthcare cost exposure is becoming a first-order input into residence and citizenship strategy, not an afterthought. The SIP Health Cost Index provides globally mobile families and their advisers with a practical comparison tool to anticipate long-term healthcare budgets and avoid hidden high-cost traps when selecting a new home, second residence, or multi-base lifestyle.

Media Contact:

Sarah Nicklin
Group Head of PR
Email: sarah.nicklin@henleyglobal.com
Mobile: +27 72 464 8965