The World’s Wealthiest Cities Report is the definitive guide to the world’s wealthiest and most expensive cities, published annually by Henley & Partners — the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment — in partnership with wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth.
Wealth data
New World Wealth is currently the only known independent wealth research firm systematically tracking global wealth migration trends between countries and cities. The firm tracks the movements of over 150,000 high-net-worth individuals in its in-house database, with a special focus on those with over USD 30 million in listed company holdings. The database’s primary focus is on company founders (50%+ of the database) and individuals from high-value companies who hold the following positions: chairperson, CEO, president, director, and managing partner.
New World Wealth relies primarily on this database when assessing the city wealth breakdowns featured in this report. The firm uses various public sources to check city locations, including LinkedIn and other business portals. The data also takes into account prime property statistics — specifically, it considers the number of highly priced homes in each city.
Note: It should be noted that New World Wealth never gives out the names of the individuals in its database, which it uses purely for in-house statistical studies.
City definitions
We take into account the normal city limits of all the cities mentioned in this report, with the exception of those listed below.
- The Bay Area includes the city of San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
- Los Angeles includes the city of Los Angeles as well as Beverly Hills, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and Malibu.
- Miami includes Miami (city) and Miami Beach (island).
- Nice to Èze includes Nice and Èze as well as Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and Villefranche-sur-Mer.
- Athens includes the city of Athens as well as surrounding beachfront areas such as Glyfada and Piraeus.
- Zurich refers to the Canton of Zurich.
- Geneva refers to the Canton of Geneva.
Notes and wealth definitions
For the purposes of this report, ‘wealth’ refers to an individual’s liquid investable wealth, which only includes listed company holdings, cash holdings, and debt-free residential property holdings.
The terms ‘millionaires’ or ‘high-net-worth individuals’ (HNWIs) refer to individuals with liquid investable wealth of USD 1 million or more.
The term ‘centi-millionaires’ refers to individuals with liquid investable wealth of USD 100 million or more.
The term ‘billionaires’ refers to individuals with liquid investable wealth of USD 1 billion or more.
‘Millionaire growth’ refers to the rise or drop in the number of millionaires living in a country or city over a certain period, in percentage terms.
‘Wealth per capita’ refers to the average wealth of a person in a specific country or city.Read more
Wealth versus GDP
We consider wealth to be a far better measure of the financial health of an economy than GDP. The reasons for this include:
- In many countries, a large portion of GDP flows to the government and therefore has little impact on private wealth creation.
- GDP counts items multiple times. For instance, if someone is paid USD 100 for a product or a service and they then pay someone else that same USD 100 for another product or service, USD 200 will be added to the country’s GDP despite the fact that only USD 100 was produced at the outset.
- GDP ignores the efficiency of a country’s banking sector and stock market in retaining wealth.
- GDP largely overlooks the impact of property and stock market moves, yet these two factors clearly have a significant impact on wealth.
- GDP is a relatively static measure that tends to move only slightly year on year. It also has a time lag.
Wealth figures, on the other hand, have none of these limitations, making them a far more accurate gauge of the true financial health of an economy than its GDP figures.
About New World Wealth
New World Wealth was established in 2013 and has been tracking the movements and spending habits of the world’s wealthiest people for over a decade. The firm has an impressive track record in providing robust, reliable wealth data and insights for key publications, such as Knight Frank’s Wealth Report, AfrAsia Bank’s Global Wealth Migration Review, and Henley & Partners’ Africa Wealth Report, BRICS Wealth Report, Centi-Millionaire Report, Crypto Wealth Report, and USA Wealth Report, as well as the Henley Private Wealth Migration Dashboard and the Henley Wealth and Sustainability Report. New World Wealth’s reports and findings have been referenced by the Australian and UK governments, as well as by global news outlets such as the BBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Forbes, the New York Times, Robb Report, and the Telegraph.
For more information on New World Wealth, please visit newworldwealth.com
Disclaimer
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This report is distributed for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice. It should not form the basis of any decision. The information contained in this report is not, and shall not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy or an offer to purchase any securities, nor should it be deemed to be an offer, or a solicitation of an offer, to purchase or sell any investment product or service. Henley & Partners is not responsible for the content of websites and information resources that may be referenced in this report. The information contained in this report is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication, but is subject to change without notice. Henley & Partners does not have any obligation to provide revisions in the event of changed circ*mstances. Henley & Partners and its affiliates, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any liability or loss whatsoever, including but not limited to direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages, arising out of or in connection with the use or reliance on the information contained in this report. The information in this report is provided “as is” and Henley & Partners makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the information contained in this report for any purpose.
The World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2024 was published on 7 May 2024.
