2,000 millionaires moved to Dubai in 2015, report shows

Dubai: Around 2,000 millionaires moved to the UAE’s largest city Dubai last year, a newly-released report shows, with many coming from Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Turkey.

The report, released by South African consultancy New World Wealth, noted that more traditional centers for the rich, such as London, experienced far more modest gains. While 3,000 millionaires moved to the UK capital in 2015, 2,500 left.

The rest of the UAE gained another 1,000 millionaires last year, reaching a total of 72,000.

Paris, Athens, Rome, and Chicago saw the biggest millionaire outflows last year, according to the report. The French capital had the most dramatic decrease, with 7,000 choosing to move.

According to experts and rich individuals surveyed, rising religious tensions – triggered by the two attacks in Paris by extremists last year – and lack of opportunities were the main reason for leaving the French capital.

“We expect that millionaire migration away from France will accelerate over the next decade as these tensions escalate,” the report noted.

Meanwhile in Athens, the economic slump and the migration crisis, which has seen hundreds of thousands flock to Europe from the Middle East, was believed to be the main reason for millionaires to quit the Greek capital.