From a zero income tax policy to a smooth and luxurious lifestyle, several factors have attracted wealthy people to Dubai, as they are flocking there in large numbers. The United Arab Emirates and Dubai, in particular, have long welcomed rich people with millions in the bank from nearby countries. Amid the trend of moving to the UAE, those who help millionaires to shift to the Gulf country have told news agency AFP that there are possibilities that more Westerners will join the fray.
Henley & Partners, an advisory firm, has estimated that the UAE will attract an unprecedented 9,800 millionaires in 2025. It is the highest compared to anywhere else in the world. UAE, a country known for being tightly policed, has turned itself into a magnet for the wealthy. The Gulf country offers economic and political stability with extremely low crime rates. Besides these advantages, the country also provides an easygoing business environment and even easier access to luxury.
The golden visa scheme in the UAE, meant to attract wealthy or skilled foreigners, allows individuals to obtain a 10-year residence permit. Mike Coady, who heads Skybound Wealth Management, an advisory firm for high-net-worth individuals, said some of his clients "feel like success has become a liability in their home countries," as quoted by AFP. "They're being taxed more, scrutinized more, and offered less," he said, but in Dubai, "wealth isn't hidden; it's normalized," Coady added. "In London, my clients whisper about their net worth. In Dubai, they can live freely," he continued.
Coady said that his clients who choose to relocate to the UAE were mostly professionals in their 30s and 40s, including tech founders, second-generation business owners, consultants, and fund managers. One of them is the 42-year-old founder of a cloud software company who, fearing capital gains tax on its sale, had moved to the Gulf region from Britain -- now a leading exporter of millionaires.
Some are pushed out by a stricter taxation policy for people with "non-dom" status—those who live in Britain but whose permanent domicile is abroad and have benefited from no tax on income earned outside the country. Put together with other looming changes to taxation and inheritance rules, and what Coady called "increasing anti-wealth rhetoric," Britain is expected to lose a record 16,500 millionaires this year, according to Henley & Partners.
The most high-profile departee in 2025, billionaire John Fredriksen, told Norwegian media he was moving to the UAE because "Britain has gone to hell". Speaking on the "Building Wealth With No Borders" podcast about his move to Dubai, Max Maxwell, CEO of Paddco Real Estate, said, "We're all chasing a lifestyle, whatever that means to everybody," as quoted by AFP.
Maxwell explained that after leaving the United States for the UAE, he found his family could enjoy "a better lifestyle than where we were" for the same amount of money. Philippe Amarante, of Henley & Partners in Dubai, said the wealthy seek to maintain their fortunes and lifestyle, and the ability to do business with "very little red tape."
And the UAE has positioned itself "with a very clear and simple message: we are open for business," said Amarante. To Coady's clients, "the UAE fits like a glove," he said. The wealthy from all over the world are now taking their families, businesses, and private offices with them to Dubai, "which is something new", said Faisal Durrani, head of Middle East research at Knight Frank real estate consultancy firm.
Dubai has already become one of the world's top 20 cities with the most millionaires, home to 81,200 of them as well as 20 billionaires, according to Henley & Partners.
Source Name : Economic Times