LONDON: Riyadh and Jeddah are among the fastest-growing cities in the world for millionaires, according to a report on global wealth.
The Saudi hubs were both listed among the 30 cities in which the number of high-net-worth individuals has increased the most over the last 10 years.
Riyadh had 65 percent more millionaires in 2024 than it did in 2014, according to the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025 by New World Wealth for Henley & Partners.
The report showed more than 20,000 people with liquid investable wealth of $1 million or more are now based in the Saudi capital. This included 77 centi-millionaires and 11 billionaires.
Jeddah saw an increase of more than 50 percent, with 10,400 millionaires now living there.
The increase in wealthy individuals in the Kingdom’s cities coincides with the extensive Vision 2030 economic reform program launched in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Efforts to diversify the Kingdom’s economy have included a push to attract international companies to base their regional headquarters in Riyadh.
The other cities from the Middle East to be included in those “fastest growing” were Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Dubai saw its millionaire population double over 10 years to make it the 18th wealthiest, according to the report.
“This Middle East wealth shift reflects the region’s strategic pivot towards becoming global financial centers, combined with zero income and capital gains taxes,” the report said.
Dominic Volek, from Henley & Partners, said: “Middle Eastern cities, especially within the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have established themselves as pivotal connections in contemporary wealth networks.
“Such movements mirror larger political and financial developments, as affluence increasingly concentrates in stable, enterprise-friendly environments providing both protective measures and expansion opportunities.”
Many of the other fastest-growing cities were based in the US, China, and India.
There were also dramatic shifts in traditional global wealth hubs.
London and Moscow were the only two cities to see a reduction in the number of millionaires since 2014.
London has lost 12 percent of its high-net-worth residents with the drop blamed on high taxes, a slow tech sector and a struggling economy after the 2008 financial crisis and Brexit.
The government last year ended the non-domiciled tax regime, which allowed wealthy foreigners living in the UK to avoid paying tax on many of their overseas assets. This has reportedly led to an exodus of millionaires from the UK.
Shenzhen in China saw the fastest growth in the number of millionaires of all cities, thanks to its explosive growth from a fishing community to a global center for technology innovation.
New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Singapore are considered the richest cities by the number of millionaires, with London dropping out of the top five.
