The UAE was home to 52 billionaires with a combined fortune of $201 billion in 2025, according to a new report, placing the country among the world’s top 15 billionaire markets.
The number of billionaires in the UAE declined 1.9 per cent year-on-year, while their combined wealth stood at $201 billion, according to Altrata’s Billionaire Census 2026.
The UAE ranked 15th globally by billionaire population, behind Saudi Arabia, which had 59 billionaires with combined wealth of $175 billion. Its billionaire population accounted for about 1.4 per cent of the global total of 3,795 billionaires, while their combined wealth represented roughly 1.3 per cent of the global billionaire fortune of $15.1 trillion.
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Dubai among world’s top billionaire cities
Dubai ranked joint eighth among the world’s cities by billionaire population, tying with Shenzhen. The emirate was home to 43 billionaires in 2025, two more than a year earlier, and placing it behind New York, Hong Kong, San Francisco, London, Singapore, Los Angeles and Beijing.
Altrata said the distribution of billionaires is being shaped by the globalisation of business and technology and the increasing mobility of capital. The report noted that major cities continue to attract wealthy individuals because of their access to entrepreneurial networks, financial services and high-end lifestyle infrastructure.
Dubai and Istanbul were highlighted as notable billionaire centres, with the report pointing to the growing prominence of major Asian and emerging wealth hubs in the global rankings.
UAE benefits from diversification
The UAE’s position comes as the wider Middle East saw modest growth in its billionaire population in 2025. The region’s billionaire population increased 5 per cent to 254 individuals, with Altrata pointing to non-oil diversification and large sovereign infrastructure programmes as key drivers of capital inflows and new wealth creation, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
However, total billionaire wealth in the Middle East fell 4 per cent to $700 billion during the year, amid weaker energy prices and underperforming regional equity markets. Oil prices ended 2025 almost 20 per cent lower, the largest annual decline since 2020, the report said.
Globally, the billionaire population rose 8.2 per cent in 2025 to a record 3,795 individuals, its strongest annual growth in five years. Their combined wealth jumped 12.8 per cent to $15.1 trillion.
The US remained the world’s largest billionaire market, with 1,265 billionaires, followed by China with 363 and Germany with 221. The top 15 billionaire countries accounted for 83 per cent of global billionaire wealth.
AI drives global billionaire wealth
Among 150 listed companies that contribute most to billionaire wealth, those that made meaningful investments in AI recorded 23 per cent higher market capitalisation growth than companies that did not over the combined 2024-25 period, Altrata said.
The concentration of wealth has also increased at the very top. The world’s 29 billionaires with fortunes above $50 billion held a combined $4.1 trillion in 2025, equivalent to 27 per cent of all billionaire wealth, up from 7.2 per cent in 2017.
Altrata said billionaire fortunes are typically concentrated in company ownership rather than cash, meaning stock market performance and business valuations can have a significant impact on their net worth.
About 73 per cent of the average billionaire portfolio is held in stakes in listed or privately owned companies, while liquid assets account for about a quarter of portfolios.
The report also found that one in five billionaires globally was born outside the country where they now reside and where their primary business is based, highlighting the increasingly mobile nature of global wealth.
Source: Khaleej Times