9,800 Millionaires a Year. Why Is Everyone Moving to Dubai?
No income tax, the Golden Visa, a world-class lifestyle and a regulated real estate market. Dubai has become the global hub for attracting wealthy residents — and it is no coincidence.
For years, Dubai was associated with all-inclusive holidays and artificial islands. Today it draws billionaires, global banks and hedge funds. What changed, and what does it mean for the real estate market?
The Largest Wealth Migration in Decades
In 2025, the UAE attracted a net 9,800 millionaires — more than any other country in the world. This is not a one-off spike, but a continuation of a long-term trend. For comparison, Italy, ranked second, attracted only a fraction of that number in the same period.
The data also reveals the scale of the problem on the other side: the United Kingdom lost more wealthy residents in 2025 than ever before, driven primarily by tax changes and tightening investor visa restrictions.
Dubai alone is now home to 23 to 28 billionaires, 237 centi-billionaires (individuals with assets exceeding USD 100 million), and between 130,000 and 142,000 millionaires in total, as of January 2025.
Why Dubai? Three Reasons Wealthy People Choose the Emirate
1. Taxes — or rather, the absence of them
The UAE levies no personal income tax. There is no capital gains tax and no tax on dividends. For an investor from Western Europe paying an effective rate of 40 to 55 percent, this is a revolutionary shift. On annual incomes of several million euros, the difference runs into millions saved.
2. Quality of life and safety
Dubai consistently ranks among the safest cities in the world. Ultramodern infrastructure, direct flights to every corner of the globe, private schools, clinics and premium entertainment — these are the deciding factors for families with children who refuse to compromise on their standard of living.
3. Residency programmes — the Golden Visa as an anchor
The Golden Visa is a long-term residency programme available to investors purchasing property worth a minimum of AED 2 million (approximately USD 550,000). It is renewable and does not require permanent residency. This has fundamentally changed the buyer profile — instead of speculators, the market is now filled with long-term residents and their families.
Before the Golden Visa era, Dubai was a transactional market — you bought to sell at the next boom. Today, a growing number of buyers are people building their future here. This stabilises demand, reduces the risk of a bubble and moves the market closer to Singapore or London — cities with a genuine base of permanent residents.
Where Millionaires Go, Corporations Follow
The migration of private capital has triggered waves of corporate relocations. In 2025 alone, institutions from the top tier of global finance and technology moved their headquarters or opened regional offices in Dubai: PayPal, Nomura, PIMCO, UBS, Rothschild and Co, Warburg Pincus, Manulife, CapitaLand and many more.
The presence of global financial institutions creates a network effect: where banks and funds go, more capital, talent and companies follow. DIFC — the Dubai International Financial Centre — has become one of the five most important financial centres in the world, alongside New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The 2040 Plan: Dubai Intends to Double Everything
The Dubai Urban Master Plan 2040 is an ambitious urban vision and a clear signal to investors that the city has no intention of slowing down. Key targets include growing the population from the current 3.6 million to 7.8 million, increasing tourist numbers by 134 percent, and expanding green and recreational areas by 105 percent.
The plan calls for five full urban centres, each with its own function and investment ecosystem: Deira (historical core and cultural tourism), Business Bay (global financial hub), Dubai Frame (entertainment and international events), Dubai South (logistics and trade) and Silicon Oasis (technology and AI — the regional answer to Silicon Valley).
For real estate investors, the 2040 Plan has one key implication: demand for residential and commercial space is set to nearly double within 15 years. At current prices — still a fraction of those in Singapore or London — this is a window that may close sooner than expected.
Not Hype. Foundations.
9,800 millionaires arriving every year, global banks and funds relocating, the Golden Visa stabilising the market, the 2040 Plan guaranteeing infrastructure — these are not the ingredients of a bubble. They are the foundations of long-term growth.
The question worth asking is this: how much longer will Dubai remain the most affordable premium real estate market in the world?
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Data sourced from market reports, April 2026.