Insights into the World’s Fastest Growing Cities

The world’s best passports give entrepreneurs and global investors visa-free access to the world’s key cities.

Which 20 Cities Have the Fastest Growing Millionaire Populations?

The ability to travel visa-free or having the option to move your business to a more favorable city have become crucial elements in international wealth and legacy planning for affluent individuals. Increasing numbers of global investors are utilizing investment migration as a mechanism to invest in, access, and operate across a range of wealth hubs worldwide.

Looking specifically at the 20 fastest growing cities for millionaires, the following six will arguably be the most critical ones to be able to access visa-free over the coming decades.

The Bay Area

Northern California’s Bay Area is expected to lead the world’s AI revolution. It encompasses the city of San Francisco and the area known as Silicon Valley, which includes affluent towns such as Atherton, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. Most of the world’s top tech firms are based in the area, including Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta, Intel, Uber, Airbnb, LinkedIn and Netflix.

Dubai

Following several decades of strong growth, Dubai is now the wealthiest city in the Middle East by some margin. Thanks to its low tax rates, strong energy and transport infrastructure, well-developed banking system, and most critically its impressive safety and security when compared to its neighbors, Dubai is perfectly positioned for the future, and we expect it to surpass London and Paris to become the key wealth hub in the EMEA region by 2040.

Miami

A consistently popular retirement destination for America’s super-rich, Florida’s absence of state taxes are a major drawcard for Miami. A particularly large number of billionaires and centi-millionaires have moved to the city over the past few years, especially those in the tech, fund management, media, and entertainment sectors. Miami also serves as America’s key gateway to Latin America, and the Miami International Airport offers direct flights to most of the world’s key cities, making the city among the world’s top strategic locations for global investors. Our figures for Miami include wealth held in the City of Miami as well as the nearby island city of Miami Beach.

Shenzhen

Shenzhen is the world’s third-largest tech hub when ranked by number of tech millionaires, after the Bay Area and Greater Seattle. It is the base city for global tech giants Huawei, Tencent, BYD, and ZTE and has experienced especially strong wealth growth over the past 20 years.

Bengaluru

India’s fastest growing city, Bengaluru, is known as the “Garden City” and the “Silicon Valley of India”. It has a booming tech sector and is the base city of global tech giants Infosys and Wipro.

Hangzhou

Widely regarded as one of the more scenic cities in China, Hangzhou is known for its architecture and gardens. This has made it a popular home base for many of China’s wealthiest families, and a growing magnet for tech entrepreneurs and small business owners. Media and tech giant Alibaba is based there, along with Ant Group and NetEase.

Spotlight on small towns

The world’s fastest growing cities list also features a number of smaller cities and towns, including America’s golf and lifestyle estate capital Scottsdale and the beautiful beachfront town of Grand Baie in Mauritius. Greenwich & Darien on Connecticut’s Gold Coast also make the list, as does the jewel of Florida — Palm Beach.

Note

The terms ‘millionaires’ or ‘high-net-worth individuals’ (HNWIs) refer to individuals with liquid investable wealth of USD 1 million or more.