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Dubai is strengthening its position as a global capital of wealth: 43 billionaires call the emirate home, while the UAE as a whole ranks among the world’s top 15 countries by billionaire population.

In 2025, the United Arab Emirates was home to 52 billionaires with a combined net worth of $201 billion. The figures come from the new Billionaire Census 2026 by research firm Altrata, which ranks the UAE among the world’s 15 largest hubs for billionaire wealth.

The number of billionaires in the country fell by 1.9% over the year, while their combined wealth reached $201 billion.

By billionaire population, the UAE ranked 15th globally, behind neighboring Saudi Arabia, which had 59 billionaires in 2025 with a combined fortune of $175 billion.

The UAE accounted for around 1.4% of the world’s billionaire population. Globally, there were a record 3,795 billionaires, whose combined wealth amounted to approximately $15.1 trillion. The UAE’s billionaires therefore accounted for about 1.3% of global billionaire wealth.

Dubai’s position is particularly striking. The emirate ranked eighth among the world’s cities by number of billionaires, sharing the position with Shenzhen, China.

In 2025, Dubai was home to 43 billionaires — two more than the previous year.

The cities ranking higher were New York, Hong Kong, San Francisco, London, Singapore, Los Angeles and Beijing.

According to Altrata, the geography of billionaire wealth is increasingly being shaped by business globalization, technological development and the growing mobility of capital. Major cities continue to attract the ultra-wealthy thanks to access to entrepreneurial networks, financial infrastructure and a premium quality of life.

Altrata singled out Dubai and Istanbul as notable wealth hubs, highlighting the growing role of Asian and other rapidly developing global centers.

America Remains in a League of Its Own

Globally, the number of billionaires increased significantly. In 2025, their ranks grew by 8.2% to a record 3,795 — the fastest annual increase in five years.

Their wealth grew even faster. The combined fortune of the world’s billionaires jumped 12.8% to $15.1 trillion.

The United States retained its status as the world’s largest billionaire market, with 1,265 billionaires living in the country. China ranked second with 363 billionaires, followed by Germany with 221.

The 15 countries with the largest billionaire populations collectively accounted for 83% of the world’s total billionaire wealth.

Artificial Intelligence Is Creating New Fortunes

Artificial intelligence is emerging as one of the key drivers of billionaire wealth creation.

According to Altrata, among the 150 publicly traded companies that contribute most significantly to billionaire wealth creation, those that actively invested in AI recorded 23% higher growth in market capitalization than companies that made no significant investments in the sector, measured over the combined 2024–2025 period.

At the same time, wealth is becoming increasingly concentrated at the very top of the pyramid.

In 2025, just 29 billionaires, each worth more than $50 billion, collectively controlled $4.1 trillion. That was equivalent to 27% of the world’s total billionaire wealth.

By comparison, this ultra-exclusive group accounted for just 7.2% of global billionaire wealth in 2017.

Billionaire fortunes, meanwhile, largely exist in the form of assets rather than cash. Much of their wealth is tied up in stakes in companies, meaning share prices and business valuations can literally change the size of an individual’s fortune within a matter of days.

Altrata estimates that around 73% of the average billionaire’s portfolio consists of stakes in public or private companies, while liquid assets account for roughly a quarter of their wealth.

Another trend highlights just how mobile global capital has become: approximately one in five billionaires was born in a different country from the one where they currently live and where their primary business interests are based.

In other words, the modern map of wealth is increasingly less dependent on where someone was born. Capital is moving toward places that offer better conditions, business opportunities and quality of life.

And judging by the numbers, Dubai has emerged as one of the major destinations for this new era of global wealth.

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