After London, Paris, and Milan, Dubai is now the fourth-wealthiest city in the Middle East and fourth in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) due to a thriving economy and significant investor inflows.
According to The Rise of Dubai report, as of the end of June 2025, there were 23 billionaires, 86,000 millionaires, and 251 centimillionaires in the emirate.
“If current growth trends continue, Dubai is on track to overtake these cities to become EMEA’s wealthiest city by 2040,” said the report, which MCB Group, boutique investment advisory firm Stewards Investment Capital, and New World Wealth conducted.
“Dubai’s total liquid investable wealth is approximately $1.1 trillion (Dh4 trillion) as at June 2025. This refers to the combined investable wealth of all people currently living in the city. This does not necessarily mean that they hold their money there. Many high net worth individuals (HNWIs), for instance, will still keep much of their wealth with large banks and wealth managers abroad, and invest in global stock markets,” said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.
In terms of the number of HNWIs, he continued, Dubai was the fourth-wealthiest city in EMEA. In June 2025, the top-ranked city of London had 212,000 millionaires, followed by Paris (163,000) and Milan (121,000) with high net worths.
According to MCB CEO Thierry Hebraud, the Mauritius International Financial Center’s qualities and Dubai’s status as a global commercial hub produce potent synergies.
“Dubai’s transformation into a leading global wealth hub reinforces its appeal as a bridge between established and emerging markets. Together with regulatory sophistication and technological excellence, Dubai offers new investment opportunities that don’t exist in traditional markets,” said Bilal Adam, CEO of Stewards Investment Capital.
“We view the UAE as a gateway to high-growth opportunities geared towards business growth, wealth preservation, and legacy building,” he said.
The Rise of Dubai study highlighted the main reasons for the emirate’s robust wealth growth, including its status as a safe haven, its low taxes that drew in wealthy retirees, its highly diversified economy, rising real estate prices, its excellent air connectivity that makes it easy for international investors to reach any location in the world, its first-rate healthcare system, its top-notch international schools and year-round recreational opportunities, and its position as a global leader in eco-state living.
Its population reached its highest level in history last month as a result of the expanding riches drawing in professionals, investors, retirees, and digital nomads. The population of the city surpassed 4 million, according to official data.
As of June 2025, the UAE is home to at least 250 family offices, making it the family office hub with the fastest rate of growth in the globe, according to New globe Wealth’s internal database.
“Most of these were set up fairly recently (post-Covid) by HNWIs that originally came from Africa, India, Russia, the UK, CIS, and the Middle East. Family offices are normally only cost-effective for ultra-wealthy centi-millionaires and billionaires,” the report said.
