Key Points
- Dubai and Abu Dhabi join New York, Singapore and Hong Kong in the top 5 destinations globally for wealth.
- The UAE is heralded as a unique wealth story, pro-business, safe, and culturally-rich lifestyle.
- Savills’ new Wealth Trends 2025 report assessment sees the UAE as an emerging wealth centre.
- Family infrastructure, education, and tax efficiency drive long-term relocation to the Emirates.
The top 5 destinations globally for wealth are drawing the attention of the world’s richest people.
Dubai ranks number one globally and indeed ahead of other new emerging economies, in its drawing power, with Abu Dhabi fifth. The UAE cities have stepped gingerly into the shoes of New York, Singapore and Hong Kong in helping define where the world’s wealthy ‘Wish List’ to put down roots lies. As I wrote in my previous articles, the Dubai and Abu Dhabi success stories are no accident. A confluence of political stability, investor-friendly regulation and luxury lifestyle sees the country as a magnet for HNWI migration into the Middle East. In my view, the UAE’s rise as a wealth centre comes down to its ability to combine safety, opportunity and cultural space in a way few regions can match.
UAE wealth appeal grows stronger
The UAE tops the world in international schools for families relocating, with 168 schools welcoming expatriate families in Dubai. The city also rates in the global top ten for quality of lifestyle with a quality potpourri of retail, hospitality and culture. Add a tax system with no inheritance, capital gains, or wealth taxes added to this, a recipe for world investors that is part prosperity, part security.
Abu Dhabi makes its own quieter and equally compelling claim. Its economic competitiveness, the power and strength of its companies, and the breadth of its connectivity make it a destination of choice for sovereign wealth funds and private family offices. Plans to keep it at the very heart of the UAE’s ambition to achieve a balanced national economy, thanks to the forward-looking vision of building enduring, smart infrastructure and sustainable investment.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi lead the top 5 cities worldwide for wealth
According to Savills Middle East Head of Residential Agency Andrew Cummings, “More high-net-worth individuals are looking at Dubai and Abu Dhabi as long-term homes and not only short-term investment markets. The UAE’s high-quality housing, education, and health sectors, along with good accessibility, combined with a stable and tax-efficient environment makes it one of the most compelling destinations in the world”.
What we are looking at here is a move in the overall tectonic plates of real estate. The big heavies like London and Zurich are taken down a notch by a Dubai or Singapore, just as likely to throw a UAE wealth fund over there, providing a condo with schooling and high-living standards.
Family and lifestyle become determining factors in global property investment
The Savills report cites the fact that the world’s wealthy are abandoning traditional property hubs and investing in cities that accommodate lifestyle needs as well as family/security concerns as much as good schools.
“When totally taking in the priorities of the world’s wealthy, it’s more than business and investment opportunity, it’s also about lifestyle and family appeal, health and wellness”, said Kelcie Sellers, Associate Director, Savills World Research. “The UAE wholly delivers on mix with above average consistency and confidence from private school accessibility and visa policy”.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar are gradually coming up in the designer world of property and furniture
As regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Qatar expand through infrastructure and diversification development, the areas of competition still attempt to keep pace due to openness, jurisdictional clarity and a deregulated economy.
Cities which reflect the UAE national transformation vision, future fittest digital lifestyle economies aligned to rapid business progression, face extreme competition to land such a contract with the world.
UAE catches the plug and plays windfall
It’s in the far-flung low-tax groves to be enjoyed by all, and it’s not a blip in the abnormal wealth cycle of mankind. Rather, a plumb and manageable bumper crop, paradise by design to sovereign investors who require a lifetime family and homeland and get plenty of great visions to plug into each development here, including private schooling for their offspring.
Not many in the UAE are humbled by the international division of labour; we are on top of life. We win.
