Switzerland is home to two of the wealthiest cities in the world, according to a new report published by the London-based investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners. The report found that Geneva is home to the second highest concentration of millionaires in the world, only topped by Monaco.
18 percent of Geneva’s residents are high-net-worth individuals
The survey found that 18 percent of Geneva’s residents are classed as having a “high-net-worth”, a figure only surpassed by Monaco where 44 percent of residents have a high net worth. The study found that Geneva has 90.300 millionaires, 345 centi-millionaires, and 16 billionaires. Zurich, which also featured in the ranking, is home to fewer of the country’s billionaires but boasts 105.100 millionaires.
While the study did set out to compare the 20 richest cities in the world, areas of Switzerland were split into cantons instead of cities. As a result, while Geneva has a higher density of rich people, Canton Zurich (16th) beat Geneva (20th) due to the sheer number of millionaires that call the region home.
Swiss wealth is often under the spotlight
Large international companies based in Switzerland such as Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, UBS and luxury brands such as Patek Philippe, Pictet, and Rolex attract many wealthy businesspeople to Zurich and Geneva. Many of these companies offer high salaries and some cantons even have favourable business taxes to help attract the world’s wealthiest to Switzerland - Canton Nidwalden was found to have the lowest business taxes in the world earlier in the year.
While Switzerland remains one of the wealthiest nations on earth, having recently been crowned number one in the UN’s Human Development Index, the country is also home to many that rely on social security as their main source of income. Figures from Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office show that in 2020, around 8,5 percent of the country was affected by poverty, despite the country’s growing wealth.
The World’s Cities index 2022
According to the new ranking by Henley & Partners, these are the top 10 wealthiest cities in 2022:
- 1. New York
- 2. Tokyo
- 3. San Francisco
- 4. London
- 5. Singapore
- 6. Los Angeles and Malibu
- 7. Chicago
- 8. Houston
- 9. Beijing
- 10. Shanghai
For the full ranking, and to see more fascinating statistics about global wealth distribution, visit the Henley & Partners website.