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0 China’s Shenzhen leads a new ranking of cities most likely to produce future millionaires, recording 142% millionaire growth over the past decade and outscoring 49 other global cities in a May 2026 study.
The research, published by Coin Insider, an independent digital currencies news platform, analysed millionaire growth rates, venture capital (VC) activity and skilled migration trends to project where wealth creation is most likely to accelerate in the coming years. Each city was assessed across seven factors, with stronger scores reflecting higher future potential rather than existing stock of wealth.
Shenzhen earned a final score of 99 out of 100, driven by millionaire population growth of 142% over the 2014 to 2024 period, a tech workforce exceeding half a million people, and a fundraising value of US$56 billion. The study describes Shenzhen as China’s hardware and artificial intelligence capital, noting that its wealth is new, fast-growing and closely tied to technology.
“Digital currencies have decoupled wealth creation from physical location,” a Coin Insider analyst said.
Austin, in the United States, ranked second with 90% millionaire growth over the decade and the highest VC ecosystem growth score among the top five cities in the study. The Texas capital has absorbed large inflows of skilled workers from more expensive American coastal hubs and recorded US$29 billion in deal value. Dubai placed third with 102% millionaire growth, the second fastest rate in the top five, bolstered by strong specialist migration from Europe and South Asia and a tech workforce of 200,000. Miami came fourth at 94% growth, followed by China’s Hangzhou, home to Alibaba, at 108% millionaire growth over the decade.
The full top ten from the study:
Washington D.C. placed sixth with 92% growth and strong VC activity. Seattle came seventh with 48% growth but a high VC ecosystem score. Boston, New York and Singapore rounded out the top ten. New York, despite ranking last among the ten, hosts 384,500 millionaires and US$191.7 billion in deal value, the highest of any city in the study.
The starkest finding in the ranking concerns London. The British capital is the only major financial hub in the study to have recorded negative millionaire growth over the past decade, losing 12% of its high-net-worth population between 2014 and 2024. The contrast between London’s decline and the rapid wealth accumulation in Asian and Gulf cities reflects a broader redistribution of global financial gravity that the study argues is accelerating through technology and cross-border capital mobility.
NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/shenzhen-tops-study-of-cities-producing-future-millionaires/
