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Arne O. Holm comments:
The World's Richest Are on the Move
Comment: While it is becoming ever harder for genuine refugees to cross the borders that separate war from peace, the world's richest are on the move like never before. And now it is no longer just about avoiding tax.
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This is a comment written by a member of the editorial staff. All views expressed are the writer's own.
The election campaign in Norway in 2025 may have been the most single-tracked in history, with the debate over wealth tax dominating completely. The party that took it furthest in wanting to abolish the wealth tax, the Progress Party (Frp), was the clear winner of the election.
New political landscape
The progress has continued through every single opinion poll in the time since the election, and in the latest polls Frp has more than 30 percent support. That is, of course, not only due to tax policy, but it is safe to say that tax policy is an important part of the explanation for the party’s rise.
The decline for Norway’s traditionally largest parties, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, is so great that even if they join forces, they will not achieve a political majority. It is an entirely new political situation.
The debate over the wealth tax became dominant not least because a number of Norway’s richest people became tax exiles in Switzerland, while at the same time taking an active part in the political debate.
But tax-weary Norwegians are not the only ones on the move. According to researchers at New World Wealth, as reported by The Economist, 140,000 of the world’s richest found new home countries during the past year. To be included in this exclusive statistic, you must have at least one million US dollars in liquid assets.
140,000 of the richest on the move.
So this is a flow of refugees that cannot be stopped.
Leaving their home country
What is interesting in several of the statistics published on this topic is not only how many there are and how much private capital they are fleeing with, but why they choose to leave their home country.
Tax is still regarded as the most important reason, but geopolitics and quality of life are now also emerging as important justifications.
Dubai, which has traditionally been the safest haven for people tired of paying tax, no longer appears as attractive. The reason is simple. The United States' war against Iran, and Iran's response by bombing American allies, mean that Dubai no longer feels safe enough.
In Europe, Portugal and Italy are emerging as attractive new home countries. Looking at the world as a whole, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are high on the list.
The paradox, then, is that the very poorest in the world share the fate of the very richest in the world. They are all fleeing a war or a possible war.
Where the similarity ends
But that is also where any similarity ends.
For while the borders are largely closed to those who need protection from the acts of war of despots, there are no border barriers for the very richest. On the contrary.
For them, the road to a visa and new citizenship is paved with gold.
