A record 6,700 millionaires are expected to call the UAE their new home by the end of this year, a survey by international investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners has found.
The luxury lifestyle, golden visas and low tax environment that the UAE offers have helped to enshrine its place as the world's wealth magnet for the third year running.
The country is poised to attract nearly twice as many millionaires as its nearest rival, the US, which is forecast to see 3,800 millionaires settle there by the end of 2024.
Henley & Partners' Private Wealth Migration Report 2024 places Singapore in third place, with net inflows of 3,500, while Canada and Australia take fourth and fifth places respectively.
The report into where the world’s super-rich are choosing to migrate to and invest "clearly shows the rise and rise of Dubai and the popularity of locations such as Italy, Switzerland and Greece", according to Rosy Khalastchy, director at the high-end property company, Beauchamp Estates.
"The migration of wealthy African families, out of places such as Nigeria and South Africa, looking at homes in Dubai and London, has also been significant," she told The National.
"Cities like London, Manhattan, Paris and Berlin have grown over 200 years. In contrast, Dubai has seen the same level of growth in just 20 years. The pace of development has been remarkable," she added.
The continued clinching of the 'wealth magnet crown' by the UAE is befitting for Peter Wetherell, the founder and executive chairman of Wetherell, a prime London estate agent based in upmarket Mayfair, which has seen a rise in clients wanting to buy luxury homes in Dubai.
"Now many of our wealthy clients look at just five key locations for owning luxury homes: Dubai, London, Mumbai, the South of France and either Los Angeles or Miami," he told The National.
"Whereas a client might have historically looked at a pied-a-terre in Paris, this has now been replaced by owning a holiday home in Dubai."
'Voting with their feet'
Global wealth is on the move like never before according to Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners.
“An unprecedented 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate worldwide this year, eclipsing the previous record of 120,000 set in 2023," he said.
"As the world grapples with a perfect storm of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and social upheaval, millionaires are voting with their feet in record numbers.
"In many respects, this great millionaire migration is a leading indicator, signalling a profound shift in the global landscape and the tectonic plates of wealth and power, with far-reaching implications for the future trajectory of the nations they leave behind or those which they make their new home.”
Winners and losers
However, wealth migration is a zero-sum game and where there are winners there are also losers.
The report showed China taking the top slot on the number of millionaires migrating out of a country, with 15,200 predicted to leave this year, up from 123,800 in 2023.
Meanwhile, the UK has moved into second place on the losers chart, with 9,500 millionaires expected to leave the country this year, more than double the 4,200 that left last year.
The millionaire migration from the UK came as little surprise to Dr Hannah White, the chief executive of the independent think tank the Institute for Government in London, who blamed low economic growth and a certain amount of political instability in recent years, coupled with the uncertainty over the tax status of the so-called non-doms and the prospect of VAT being applied to private school fees.
“The outflow already generated by the economic and political turmoil in Britain risks being accelerated by further unwelcome policy decisions ahead of the election," she said.
"On top of the 40 per cent duty already imposed on estates above a £325,000 threshold, the Conservative government has adopted the thrust of the Labour opposition’s policy of ending the UK’s non-dom tax regime from 2025.
"And for those educating their children in the UK’s well-regarded private school sector, Labour’s commitment to remove their exemption from 20 per cent VAT is a further unwelcome development.”
India's millionaire losses are predicted to come in at 4,300 this year, while South Korea is expected to lose 1,200 High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) in 2024, a rise from 800 in 2023.
Wealth-attracting countries see benefits far beyond the purchase of expensive properties and spending in high-end local shops, according to Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.
“Migrating millionaires are a vital source of forex revenue as they tend to bring their money with them when they move to a country," he said.
"Also, around 20 per cent of them are entrepreneurs and company founders who may start new businesses and therefore create local jobs in their new country, and this percentage rises to over 60 per cent for centi-millionaires and billionaires.”
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Anna and the Apocalypse
Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Mark Benton
Three stars
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Results
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: Major Cinnamon, Fernando Jara, Mujeeb Rahman
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7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Remorse, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
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8.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Desert Peace, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Read more about the coronavirus
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if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
(All games 4-3pm kick UAE time) Bayern Munich v Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg v Mainz , Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg, Union Berlin v RB Leipzig, Cologne v Schalke , Werder Bremen v Borussia Monchengladbach, Stuttgart v Arminia Bielefeld
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
