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 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.

SIP Medical Family Office, the Swiss preventive medicine and health management advisory firm, today released the SIP Health Cost Index 2025. This is the only comprehensive, systematic assessment of the real cost of private healthcare across 50 of the most relevant countries for expat executives and affluent families.

Healthcare cost pressures are now increasingly coming from the world’s waistline – and could soon surpass cancer as a leading driver for international private medical insurance (IPMI), according to new evidence from Bupa Global. This surge is being fuelled by the rising prevalence of chronic, lifestyle-linked conditions such as obesity and diabetes.