Monaco has most millionaires per head in Europe – but London not far behind

One in every three people in Monaco are millionaires, according to research into the cities of Europe that have the most high net worth individuals, with Zurich close behind.

London ranks fourth. Millionaires on its Mayfair streets and penthouses may be more numerous than Monaco, but they account for only one in every 29 of the capital’s citizens.

Edinburgh, ranked 16th, is the only other UK city to make it into the top 20, with an estimated one in 67 of its inhabitants a millionaire.

Consultancy company WealthInsight, who carried out the research in partnership with Spear’s Magazine, said Dublin was the surprise entry into the top 10, beating Paris, Berlin and Moscow.

“Dublin has a higher density of millionaires than many other European capitals. Most of these have earned their wealth from Dublin’s burgeoning tech scene, which has attracted talent from both Europe and the US,” said researcher Oliver Williams.

The research is based on the number of people who have assets of more than $1m (£760,000) separate to the value of their main home.

“Monaco continues to add more millionaires per head of its population than anywhere else: it has seen its density go up by 6% since the last ranking two years ago. Such is the escalating exclusivity of the principality that only the ultra-wealthy are able to lay hands on Monégasque [from Monaco] passports,” said Williams.

Monaco’s reputation as a tax haven for billionaires has been emphasised by the continuing furore over Tina Green, wife of the controversial former BHS boss Phillip Green, who has been resident in the principality since 1998. The Greens say the companies behind their retail empire are based in offshore locations because of their “strong regulation”, and not for tax reasons.

Investment bank Credit Suisse, in its annual research into global wealth last last year, said that in inequality is growing worldwide, with half the planet’s wealth now in the hands of just 1% of the population.

The middle classes have been squeezed at the expense of the very rich, according to the research, which also found that for the first time, there were more individuals in the middle class in China – 109 million – than the 92 million in the US.

At the start of 2015, Oxfam had warned that 1% of the world’s population would own more wealth than the other 99% by the end of 2016.

Top 20 cities in Europe ranked by density of millionaires

1. Monaco 31.1%
2. Zurich 24.3%
3. Geneva 17.7%
4. London 3.4%
5. Oslo 2.9%
6. Frankfurt 2.7%
7. Amsterdam 2.7%
8. Florence 2.5%
9. Rome 2.4%
10. Dublin 2.3%
11. Venice 2.3%
12. Paris 2.0%
13. Brussels 1.9%
14. Hamburg 1.8%
15. Stockholm 1.8%
16. Edinburgh 1.5%
17. Vienna 1.5%
18. Berlin 1.2%
19. Moscow 0.8%
20. Barcelona 0.6%