Wealthy french people heading overseas

Photo: Aero Icarus

A rising number of wealthy French people are heading overseas, according to new figures, to avoid high taxes.

Overall French migration rose 6 per cent in 2013, but a large number of those leaving were from the top end of the financial spectrum.

Data from the national tax-collecting office - obtained by French newspapre Les Echos (and translated by France 24) - reveal that 3,744 people who earned over €100,000 per year left France in 2013, 40 per cent higher than the previous year. 659 citizens earning over €300,000 a year also left, a rise of 46 per cent year-on-year.

The pubication notes that the numbers are incomplete, so conclusions should not be too hastily drawn, but also cited a recent report from New World Wealth, which ranked France as third in the world in terms of the most millionaires leaving the country. Around 42,000 left between 2000 and 2014, according to the report.