Billionaires in UAE rise as Saudi numbers drop

• UAE home to 48 billionaires
• Gulf region largely unchanged
• Saudi Arabia dropping down

The number of billionaires in the UAE increased in the last year as the amount of super-wealthy residents in neighbouring Saudi Arabia dropped. 

Forty-eight billionaires lived in the UAE in 2023, with a combined wealth of $205 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7 percent.

Dubai made up 39 of that total and welcomed one extra billionaire to the emirate over the previous 12 months.

High-profile billionaires living in Dubai include Yusuff Ali, the founder of the Lulu supermarket chain; Hussain Sajwani, the head of Damac, a leading contractor; Sunny Varkey, who launched Gems Education; and Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram social media channel.

In Saudi Arabia, billionaires include Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud, founder and CEO of Kingdom Holding Company; Mohammed Al Amoudi, a construction and oil magnate; Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber, founder of the MBI Group conglomerate; and Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.

The findings come from the New York consultancy Wealth-X’s Billionaire Census 2023.

The UAE retained its position as the 15th most popular country for billionaires worldwide. For the second successive year Dubai was 11th in the world for cities with the most billionaires.

The 11th edition of the survey found that the global billionaire population expanded by 4 percent to 3,323 individuals. 

Saudi Arabia fell two spots to 11th on the country list with 68 billionaires, down 4 percent year on year. Their combined wealth dropped from $205 billion to $195 billion.

The Middle East is increasingly being seen as a centre for the uber-wealthy, enjoying safe haven status despite the twin shocks of economic uncertainty around the world and geopolitical turbulence.

Sanat Sachar, a portfolio manager at asset manager Azimut, based in Dubai International Financial Centre, said the UAE profits from “robust economic activity”, while Saudi Arabia is facing slower growth “due to weaker oil prices and the significant initial costs of transformative reforms, which promise long-term economic benefits”.

The International Monetary Fund is forecasting that UAE GDP will grow by 5.1 percent in 2025, while Saudi Arabia is slightly lower at 4.6 percent.

Overall, however, the region recorded the second-weakest performance globally in 2023, as the billionaire population (206 people) and cumulative wealth stock ($601 billion) were largely unchanged. 

“A drop in global energy prices from elevated levels dampened revenue trends in hydrocarbon exporting countries, with capital-market returns mostly underperforming the emerging-market average,” the report said.

“The US dollar currency peg in most Gulf Arab countries was also less supportive of wealth portfolios than in recent years,” it said.