Dubai currently has 81,200 billionaires, including 237 centi-millionaires and 20 billionaires, a new report.
In the most recent World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025, the emirate strengthened its position as one of the world’s most active wealth hubs, rising three places to 18th.
According to the report, which was published in collaboration with New World Wealth, the city’s millionaire population increased by 102% between 2014 and 2024, making it one of only three cities to outpace the Bay Area’s growth rate, along with Chinese cities Shenzhen (142%) and Hangzhou (108%).
Dubai emerges as star performer in global wealth hubs
Dubai’s future looks even brighter, with estimates indicating that it will more than quadruple its millionaire population over the next decade (2025-2035), joining Abu Dhabi as one of the world’s most anticipated high-growth centers.
This reflects the region’s strategic shift toward becoming a worldwide financial hub, aided by its zero income and capital gains tax structure.
“The world’s centi-millionaires are increasingly designing their geographical footprints with the same strategic care they apply to their investment portfolios — diversifying their presence across multiple jurisdictions to mitigate risk while maximising opportunity. Formal investment migration pathways create systematic entry routes into these rapidly developing regions, enabling forward-looking individuals to situate themselves and their family members within environments designed for both safeguarding and multiplying personal wealth,” Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners said.
While Dubai experiences amazing development, New York remains the world’s top city for millionaires, with 384,500 high-net-worth individuals, including 818 centi-millionaires and 66 billionaires.
The United States continues to lead the overall rankings, with 11 cities in the top fifty. The Bay Area, which includes San Francisco and Silicon Valley, ranks second with 342,400 millionaires and 82 billionaires, more than New York.
Over the last ten years, the region’s millionaire population has increased by 98%.
“These urban centers share common DNA — robust legal frameworks, sophisticated financial infrastructure, and perhaps most critically, investment migration programs that welcome global talent and capital. Seven of the Top 10 wealthiest cities are in countries with residence by investment programs, creating direct pathways for entrepreneurs and investors seeking access to these wealth hubs,” Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners added.
Tokyo ranked third with 292,300 millionaires, followed by Singapore in fourth with 242,400.
Los Angeles (220,600 millionaires) has surpassed London, moving the UK city from fifth to sixth place with 215,700 millionaires.
London and Moscow are the only two cities in the top 50 that have had negative growth over the last decade, falling by 12% and 25%, respectively. Moscow now ranks 40th, with 30,000 millionaires.
Paris (160,100 millionaires) remained in seventh place, but Hong Kong (154,900) climbed to eighth, pushing Sydney (152,900) down to ninth.
Chicago (127,100) joined the top ten for the first time, surpassing Beijing and Shanghai, which dropped to 12th and 14th, respectively.
“Asia’s top tech hub, Shenzhen is the base city for global tech giants Huawei, Tencent, BYD, DJI and ZTE and has experienced especially strong wealth growth over the past 20 years. It is now arguably the world’s leading city in a number of key tech sub-sectors including computer hardware, electric vehicles, Wi-Fi dongles, mobile phones, flying drones, 5G, energy units and electronics,” Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth added.
Monaco is the most costly city, with premier apartments costing more than $38,800 per square metre, followed by New York ($27,500), Hong Kong ($26,300), and London ($24,000).
