A.SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
The wealth held by billionaires in the UAE has surged by 39.5% from 2023 to 2024, reaching $138.7 billion, up from $99.4 billion, according to a report by Swiss bank UBS.
The UAE leads Arab nations with 18 billionaires, followed by Saudi Arabia with six, Egypt with four, and Lebanon with two, as per the UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report 2024.
Over the past year, the UAE added three new billionaires, while one billionaire exited the country, and another's wealth dropped below the billion-dollar threshold, resulting in a net increase of one from 17 to 18.
In the broader region, Israel boasts 26 billionaires with a combined wealth of $85 billion. Saudi Arabia's six billionaires hold $38 billion, Egypt's four are worth $15.1 billion, and Lebanon's two control $5.6 billion.
The report highlights the UAE's appeal to billionaires, citing its policies on safety, healthcare, and ease of doing business. Globally, the movement of billionaires has been significant, with 176 relocating among a total of 2,682 billionaires in 2024.
On a global scale, billionaire wealth climbed by 17% over the past year, with growth in the United States offsetting declines in China. The total number of billionaires rose to 2,682 from 2,544, with their combined wealth growing to $14 trillion from $12 trillion. In 2015, this figure stood at $6.3 trillion.
In the US, the number of billionaires increased to 835 from 751, driven by industrial and tech magnates, with their total wealth rising to $5.8 trillion from $4.6 trillion.
Conversely, mainland China saw a decline in billionaires, dropping to 427 from 520, with their collective wealth falling to $1.4 trillion from $1.8 trillion, attributed to real estate market losses and a downturn in company valuations amid economic uncertainty.
India, meanwhile, experienced an increase in the number of billionaires from 153 to 185, with their wealth growing by 42.1% to almost $906 billion, the report revealed.