Wealthy foreigners living in the UK spend more than £16bn a year and pay £7.1bn in tax, according to research published on Tuesday that underlined fears about the potential economic impact of planned changes to foreigners’ preferential tax regime.

Stonehage, a wealth management group, said next April’s tax increases for “non-domiciled” residents were likely to result in loss of entrepreneurs and skilled workers in the financial and professional services sectors and in manufacturing.