Stock Dubai skyline
The UAE has a very high concentration of ultra-high networth individuals with private wealth in excess of $100 million. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

Dubai: Around 34 per cent of the UAE’s wealth is held by individuals who are worth $100 million or more, while another 26 per cent is held by those worth between $1 to $100 million, according to data from Boston Consulting Group.

In the GCC, 115 individuals are worth $100 million or more, while 144,959 individuals are worth between $1 million and $100 million. Their combined financial wealth in 2020 amounted to $2.2 trillion and is expected to grow to $2.7 trillion in 2025.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE together account for 71 per cent of the financial wealth within the GCC, with Saudi accounting for 45 per cent, followed by the UAE with 26 per cent, and 11 per cent each by Qatar and Kuwait.

66 %


Financial wealth in the GCC that is held by millennials

Cash represents 46% of this

The UAE’s wealth held by individuals reached $600 billion in 2020 despite having to deal with the pandemic, according Boston Consulting Group’s latest report. It grew by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3 per cent from 2015. The UAE is fast emerging as a leading cross-border wealth management center with as much as half-a-trillion dollars of overseas wealth managed in the country in 2020.

The country last year became the sixth largest offshore asset booking centre. Switzerland with $2.4 trillion in overseas wealth managed is the top jurisdiction to attract the largest chunk of foreign wealth followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, the US and Isle of Man.