The next time you attend a farewell party for an expatriate friend, realize that it isn’t just foreign passport holders who are heading elsewhere.

Sixty-four percent of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) in China – people having personal wealth of RMB 10 million or more – are in the process of moving to another country or territory, or planning to do so, according to the Hurun Report, which tracks the habits and prefences of these HNWI.

With rising costs and rising wealth in China making life elsewhere more affordable, HNWI are looking at other options in the face of issue such as education and pollution here.

Beijing still has the country’s highest concentration of HNWI, with 184,000 as of August 2013. While not necessarily the first choice for emigration, Australia is the HNWI’s first choice as a travel destination.

Read more about the emigration phenomenon here.

Photo: The News Tribe