Dubai has been named one of the world’s richest cities and the wealthiest in the Middle East, with the number of millionaires surging by nearly 80% over the last decade, according to a new report.
The number of individuals in Dubai with liquid investment wealth — or assets that can be readily converted to cash — of $1 million or more increased by 78% between 2013 and 2023 to 72,500, according to the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2024 from Henley & Partners, in collaboration with New World Wealth.
Dubai is also home to 212 millionaires with over $100 million or more, and 15 billionaires.
Dubai ranked 21st on the list that ranked the top 50 cities based on the raw number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). The only other Middle Eastern city that made the top 50 was Tel Aviv in Israel, with 24,300 millionaires.
Although it has not caught up with Dubai, the report said that the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, was the world’s next major millionaire hotspot. The emirate currently has 22,700 HNWIs. Abu Dhabi is where the country’s ruling royal family is based and is home to the lion’s share of the UAE’s oil and gas reserves. The report also mentioned the emergence of the Abu Dhabi Global Market, which is attracting more family offices that advise HNWIs.
Referring to Dubai, the report said: “The ultra-modern wealth magnate is highly likely to break into the top 20 in the coming years, and although the UAE’s oil-rich capital, Abu Dhabi, hasn’t yet cracked a spot in the top 50 ranking, growth rates of over 75% make it a likely contender in the future.”
Along with Abu Dhabi, Jeddah was among the Middle Eastern cities that the report marked “to watch.” The Red Sea coastal city is home to many of the kingdom’s wealthiest families and is the country’s main port. The report also noted that it was relatively close to the holy city of Mecca, where millions of Muslim pilgrims descend on Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
According to the report, New York topped the list of 50 cities for the number of millionaires, with 349,500 HNWIs residing there as of 2023, followed by the high-tech hub Bay Area, Tokyo, Singapore, London, Los Angeles, Paris (including Ile-de-France), Sydney, Hong Kong and Beijing in the top 10.
New York’s residents are worth more than $3 trillion, higher than the wealth of most G20 countries.
