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info@luznurcapital.com Where private wealth is moving, and what Portugal actually receives.
The global wealth reports estimate; Portugal's own records count. This page puts the two side by side: what Henley, UBS, Knight Frank and Savills say about Portugal, who is arriving according to the migration agency, where they come from, and why wealth is moving in 2026. Every figure is rated by how solid it is.
Figures verified as at 13 October 2026. We update this page as new editions come out rather than leave dated figures in place.
Four things to know this quarter.
Henley's 2026 report dropped its millionaire-migration numbers after its method was publicly challenged. Its 2025 edition had put Portugal seventh, at a net 1,400. Official records now carry the story.
181,000 dollar millionaires, up 3.4% in 2025. 2,187 residents above $30 million, up 50% in five years. Lisbon counts 22,200 millionaires, 50th among world cities.
21,293 US citizens resident, five times the 2019 figure. Most of their 2025 permits were for neither work, family nor study, the pattern of passive-income and remote-work moves. They also lead Golden Visa permits.
The UK ended its non-dom regime, Italy's flat tax rose to €300,000, the Netherlands cut its expat ruling. Portugal added a ten-year citizenship clock and a 7.5% transfer tax for non-residents, but kept IFICI and the fund route.
What the wealth reports say about Portugal.
Each report measures something different: UBS counts net worth including property; Henley counts liquid wealth only; Knight Frank and Altrata model the population above $30 million. Their numbers are not comparable with each other, so each row names its source and how firm the figure is.
Portugal in the 2025–2026 editions
| Source | Metric | Value | Period | How firm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 | Dollar millionaires resident in Portugal | 181,000 (+6,000, +3.4%); 2.1% of adults | End 2025 | Industry research |
| UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 | Wealth per adult, average / median | $195,761 / $76,978 (26th of 56 markets) | 2025 | Industry research |
| Knight Frank The Wealth Report 2026 | Residents worth $30m or more | 2,187, from 1,462 in 2021; 2,452 forecast for 2031 | 2026 | Modelled estimate |
| Knight Frank Prime International Residential Index | Prime price change 2025 | Porto +8.5% (11th of 100); Quinta do Lago +5.2%; Lisbon +2.7% | 2025 | Industry research |
| Savills World Cities Prime Residential Index | Lisbon prime values | +4.4% in 2025; +4% to 5.9% forecast for 2026, among the five fastest | 2025–26 | Industry research |
| Savills Spotlight on Wealth Trends 2025 | HNWI Hotspot Index | Lisbon in the top 30 of about 100 destinations; "a key location, especially among Brazilians" | 2025 | Industry research |
| Henley & Partners Wealthiest Cities 2025 | Lisbon millionaires (liquid wealth) | 22,200; 50th city worldwide; 4 billionairesS | 2024 data | Modelled estimate |
| Henley & Partners Private Wealth Migration 2025 | Projected net millionaire inflow | +1,400; 7th in the world | 2025 projection | Estimate, disputed |
| Henley & Partners Private Wealth Migration 2026 | Wealth Mobility Competitiveness Score | 72.5; 6th of 16 "mobility leaders" | June 2026 | Qualitative index |
| Banco de Portugal via Knight Frank | Foreign direct investment in real estate | €3.9bn (+10%) | 2025 | Official |
| EY European Attractiveness Survey 2026 | Corporate FDI rank in Europe | 9th; 186 projectsS | 2025 | Industry research |
UBS GWR 2026 (30 Jun 2026), Portugal counts via ECOS; Knight Frank 2026 via Euronews; Savills (20 Feb 2026); Henley 2026; Henley 2025. Capgemini, BCG, Altrata and Julius Baer publish no Portugal figures in their 2025–26 editions.
The 2025 estimate: projected net millionaire inflows
Henley & Partners / New World Wealth, top ten destinations
Data table
Henley press release (24 Jun 2025); Tax Policy Associates; Spear's (19 Aug 2025). Henley sells investment-migration services.
The 2026 ranking: wealth mobility competitiveness
Henley & Partners score out of 100, selected countries
Data table
Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2026 (16 Jun 2026).
How much wealth already lives here.
Two independent measures point the same way. UBS counts millionaires by net worth; Knight Frank models the ultra-wealthy. Both show Portugal growing faster than most of Western Europe from a smaller base.
Residents worth more than $30 million
Knight Frank wealth sizing model; 2031 is a forecast
Data table
Knight Frank, The Wealth Report 2026 databank, via Euronews (28 Jun 2026). Europe as a whole: +26% over the same five years. Modelled, with retrospective revisions.
Millionaires as a share of adults
Dollar millionaires ÷ adult population, end 2025
UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 via ECO (30 Jun 2026)S.
What the migration agency actually counts.
AIMA records every foreign resident and every permit it issues. The numbers below are stocks at 31 December and permits issued in the year. AIMA notes that permits issued in a year are an administrative measure and do not equal arrivals in that year.
Foreign residents in Portugal
Stock at 31 December, all nationalities
Data table
AIMA, Relatório de Migrações e Asilo 2025 (revised series); INE, Estimativas de População Residente 2025 (22 Jun 2026).
Why permits were issued, 2025
First residence permits by reason, Eurostat
Data table
Eurostat, migr_resfirst, retrieved 13 Oct 2026.
The wealth signal by nationality
Share of 2025 permits issued for "other reasons"
Data table
Eurostat migr_resfirst 2025; shares derivedD.
Golden Visa permits by nationality
Main-applicant permits issued per year
| Nationality | 2019 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 65 | 567 | 406 | 535 |
| China | 394 | 306 | 296 | 392 |
| United Kingdom | – | 234 | 147 | 252 |
| Turkey | 85 | – | 128 | 188 |
| India | 33 | 199 | 140 | 170 |
| Russia | 53 | – | 248 | 160 |
| Brazil | 210 | 219 | 98 | 154 |
| South Africa | 45 | – | 100 | 97 |
| All nationalities | 1,450 | 2,901 | 2,081 | 2,685 |
SEF RIFA 2019; AIMA Migration Reports 2023, 2024 and 2025. A dash means the country was outside the published top list that year.
The end of the path: citizenship granted
| Former nationality | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| All acquisitions | 41,393 | 46,840 | 25,829 ▼ 45% |
| Israel (Sephardic route) | 16,377 | 17,647 | 6,155 |
| Brazil | 9,748 | 11,133 | 7,740 |
| Cabo Verde | 1,785 | 2,496 | 874 |
INE via Expresso, PORDATA (18 Dec 2025) and JN (28 Sep 2026)S. The 2025 fall follows the tightening of the Sephardic route in January 2025, which the 2026 nationality law abolishes; INE notes increases for India, Colombia, Russia, Bangladesh and Nepal without figures.
Where the wealth comes from, corridor by corridor.
Residents at the end of 2025, growth since 2019, and the share of 2025 permits that signal wealth rather than labour. Stocks are AIMA's; permit reasons are Eurostat's.
Growth in residents since 2019
Change in resident stock, 2019 to 2025, selected nationalities
Data table
AIMA RMA 2025 and SEF RIFA 2019; changes derivedD. Israel grows from a very small base (268 in 2019).
Residents by nationality, 2025
| Nationality | Residents | vs 2024 | Permits 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 21,293 | ▲ 10.6% | 4,448 |
| United Kingdom | 47,726 | ▼ 1.1% | 2,542 |
| France | 29,794 | ▲ 2.7% | 4,229 |
| Germany | 26,715 | ▲ 7.4% | 3,944 |
| Italy | 42,418 | ▲ 6.0% | 6,578 |
| Netherlands | 16,154 | ▲ 7.4% | 2,105 |
| Spain | 22,727 | ▲ 2.7% | 3,392 |
| Brazil | 493,622 | ▲ 1.9% | 115,709 |
| China | 26,395 | ▼ 14.1% | 2,486 |
| India | 91,405 | ▼ 7.3% | 25,594 |
| Russia | 20,512 | ▲ 10.8% | 4,076 |
| Israel | 2,193 | ▲ 34.7% | 685 |
| Turkey | 3,646 | ▲ 4.5% | 1,220 |
| South Africa | 3,756 | ▼ 8.2% | 680 |
AIMA RMA 2025, annex tables (stocks and permits issued).
Reading each corridor
| Corridor | What the data shows | Wealth signal |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Residents up fivefold since 2019 to 21,293, still rising 10.6% a year. 58% of 2025 permits were for "other reasons". First among Golden Visa nationalities since 2023. Henley reports US nationals as more than 30% of its 2025 applicantsS. | Strong · passive income, remote work, investors |
| United Kingdom | 47,726 residents, flat since the post-Brexit registration wave of 2020. 53% of 2025 permits for "other reasons". Golden Visa permits up to 252. HMRC's last pre-reform year shows about 9,000 non-dom departures from the UK, fewer than the year before; post-reform data arrives in 2027. | Strong · retirees and non-dom leavers, modest volume |
| EU: France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain | Together 137,808 residents, growing 2.7% to 7.4% a year. French buyers remain the largest EU group in the housing market. EU citizens need no permit, so permit data understates this corridor; the pull is tax and cost of living rather than residency. | Steady · lifestyle and tax-driven |
| Brazil | 493,622 residents, 31% of all foreigners. 94% of permits for work or family. A distinct high-end segment exists: Brazilians were the largest foreign-born home buyers in 2025 (9,808 homes) and Savills names them as Portugal's key wealth market. | Two-speed · mass labour migration plus a wealth tier |
| China | Residents down 14% in 2025 to 26,395, below the 2019 level; 0.7% of new permits. Golden Visa permits recovered to 392, second behind the US, with the property route closed since 2023. | Investor-led, shrinking resident base |
| India | Residents up from 17,619 to 91,405 since 2019, the third-largest nationality. 90% of 2025 permits were for employment; 1% for other reasons. Golden Visa permits 170, fifth nationality. The growth is labour migration; the investor segment is small but present. | Labour-led · small investor tier |
| Gulf (GCC) | Resident counts are tiny: Saudi Arabia 112, Kuwait 41, UAE 25, Qatar 12. The corridor is capital and access rather than residence: a Saudi investment company set up a holding in Gaia in July 2026 for housing, tourism and energy; Qatar Airways restored daily Doha–Lisbon flights in June 2026; Emirates flies Dubai–Lisbon twice daily; the EU–GCC summit on 24 October is expected to open the Schengen visa-waiver process for Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. UBS finds Middle East family offices hold 21% of portfolios in Western Europe and are reducing dollar exposure. | Capital, not residence · early |
AIMA RMA 2025; Eurostat; INE House Price Index Q4 2025; HMRC non-dom statistics (30 Jul 2026); AICEP (Jul 2026); Gulf News; UBS Global Family Office Report 2025–26 via pressS. Wealth-signal ratings are Luznur's assessment.
The push and the pull in 2026.
Wealth moves when the rules change at home or improve abroad. The measures below are the ones that changed the calculation in 2025 and 2026, by country, followed by Portugal's own ledger.
Elsewhere in Europe and beyond
| Country | Measure | In force | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Non-dom regime abolished; replaced by a four-year foreign-income regime; inheritance tax extended to worldwide assets of long-term residents. HMRC counted about 73,400 non-dom taxpayers and 9,000 departures in the final year of the old regime. | 6 Apr 2025 | Push |
| Italy | Flat tax for new residents raised from €100,000 to €200,000 in 2024 and to €300,000 (plus €50,000 per family member) from 2026. Filings still rose, to 1,631 for 2024. | 1 Jan 2026 | Pull, pricier |
| Spain | Golden Visa closed. A proposed 100% tax on homes bought by non-EU residents stalled in parliament without a vote. The "Beckham" expatriate regime remains. | 3 Apr 2025 | Mixed |
| Greece | Golden Visa thresholds of €800,000 in Athens and the main islands, €400,000 elsewhere. Applications fell 25% in 2025 and 44% in the first half of 2026S. | Since 2024 | Pull, cooling |
| France | The 2% "Zucman" wealth tax was rejected, but the 2026 budget introduced a 20% tax on non-professional assets held in holdings above €5 million. The 2027 election adds uncertainty. | 2026 | Push |
| Netherlands | Expat "30% ruling" capped at €262,000 of salary in 2026 and cut to 27% from 2027; partial non-resident status abolished. | 2026–27 | Push |
| Switzerland | Voters rejected a 50% federal inheritance tax on estates above CHF 50 million by about 78%. Lump-sum taxation continues in 21 cantons. | 30 Nov 2025 | Pull |
| UAE | No income tax and a Golden Visa; Henley projected the largest inflow in 2025. In 2026 its own enquiry data fell 13% in a quarter amid regional conflict, and estimates for the year conflictU. | Ongoing | Pull, contested |
| United States | A $1 million "Gold Card" residence visa launched in December 2025; one approval had been reported by April 2026S. Outbound interest is the larger story: Americans are the top Golden Visa nationality in Portugal and, per Henley, more than 30% of its applicants. | Dec 2025 | Push |
Macfarlanes and Wedlake Bell (UK); Mondaq/Boccadutri and IMI Daily (Italy)S; Baker McKenzie and Reuters (Spain, Switzerland); Deloitte Avocats (France); Vialto (Netherlands); Greek ministry figures via pressS; AP (US Gold Card)S.
Portugal's own ledger
| Item | Rule | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| IFICI ("NHR 2.0") | 20% flat tax on qualifying Portuguese work income for ten years, most foreign income exempt; limited to research, innovation and highly qualified roles. The old NHR is closed to new entrants. No official uptake figures are publishedU. | Pull, narrower |
| Citizenship | Ten years' legal residence (seven for EU and Portuguese-speaking nationals), counted from the first card, since 19 May 2026. Permanent residence still at five years. | Push |
| Non-resident property tax | Flat 7.5% IMT on homes bought by non-residents since May 2026, refunded if the buyer becomes tax-resident within two years. Neutral above about €1.15 million, where the standard rate is also 7.5%. | Push below €1.15m |
| Golden Visa | Open, through funds (€500,000), cultural donation (€250,000) and other non-property routes; 2,685 permits in 2025, the second-highest year on record. | Pull |
| Young residents (IRS Jovem) | Income-tax exemption of 100% falling to 25% over ten years for residents aged 35 or under, capped at €29,542 of income in 2026. | Pull, talent |
| 2027 State Budget proposal | Delivered 8 October 2026. Income-tax brackets indexed 3.9%; no change identified to IFICI, the non-resident IMT or the Golden VisaU. Votes on 27–28 October and 24 November. | Neutral |
Garrigues and Cuatrecasas (IFICI); Lei Orgânica 1/2026; DL 97/2026 via OCC; AIMA; DN and RTP on OE2027S. For the residency routes in full, see Moving to Portugal.
The quieter pulls
| Global Peace Index 2026 | 7th of 163 |
| Price level, 2025 (EU = 100) | 81 · Spain 92 · France 101 · Italy 107 |
| English proficiency, EF 2025 | 6th of 123 |
| Lisbon airport passengers, 2025 | 36.1 million, a record |
| International schools | 75 (36 in Lisbon, 15 in the Algarve)S |
| Gulf flights to Lisbon | Emirates 2× daily; Etihad daily; Qatar Airways daily from Jun 2026 |
Watch list
- 24 Oct 2026EU–GCC summit, Riyadh
Expected to launch the Schengen visa-waiver process for five Gulf statesS.
- 27 Oct · 24 Nov 20262027 State Budget votes
Watch amendments touching IFICI or non-resident taxation.
- 2027HMRC post-reform data
The first official count of non-dom departures after April 2025.
- PendingHenley's independent audit
Announced August 2025; no findings published.
Institute for Economics & Peace; Eurostat price level index via NSI; EF EPI 2025 via RTP; INE; International Schools Database via pressS; airline schedules via Lusa and AeroRoutesS.
Capital that moves without people.
Institutional money follows a different logic from private relocation, but it answers the same question of where foreign capital trusts Portugal. The central bank's investment figures and the brokers' deal data for 2025 and the first half of 2026.
Where the direct investment came from
Largest source countries of total FDI into Portugal, 2025
Data table
Banco de Portugal via Observador/Lusa (27 Feb 2026). Total FDI, all sectors.
Who bought what, 2025–2026
| Asset | Buyer, origin | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Livensa Living student housing, Iberia | Nido Living / CPP Investments, Canada | ~€700m financing |
| Lisbon residential site, 42,000 m² | VIZTA / Orion Capital, UK-based | ~€200m |
| Corinthia Hotel Lisbon, 72% | Orion European Real Estate Fund VI | €150m valuation |
| Penha Longa Resort, Sintra | L Catterton, US / Cedar Capital, UK | ~€140mS |
| Eight logistics assets, Lisbon | Sagax, Sweden (from Blackstone, US) | ~€90m |
| Five shopping centres (to 2025) | Castellana Properties, Spain | €323m |
Uría Menéndez, Cuatrecasas, Corinthia Group, Bloomberg, PLMJ and Essential BusinessS; Savills (22 Jan 2026 and H1 2026); Cushman & Wakefield Market Focus 2026.
How to read this monitor.
Every figure carries a rating. Official means a government, statistics office or central bank. Industry research means a published report by a bank, broker or consultancy; where the publisher also sells migration or property services, the text says so. Modelled estimate means a figure produced by a model rather than a count. Definitions differ between reports (liquid wealth, net worth, $30 million thresholds), so figures are never combined across sources. Markers: D derived by Luznur from sourced figures; S secondary source quoting the original; U a single source we could not confirm. Corridor ratings and the push-and-pull labels are Luznur's assessment.
- AIMA, Relatório de Migrações e Asilo 2023, 2024 and 2025; SEF, RIFA 2015–2021
- INE, Estimativas de População Residente 2025 (22 Jun 2026); House Price Index Q4 2025
- Eurostat, first residence permits by reason and citizenship (migr_resfirst), 2025
- Banco de Portugal, foreign direct investment 2025 (27 Feb 2026)
- HMRC, statistics on non-domiciled taxpayers (30 Jul 2026)
- UBS, Global Wealth Report 2025 and 2026
- Knight Frank, The Wealth Report 2026; Lisbon Residential Market Insight 2026
- Savills, World Cities Prime Residential Index (Feb 2026); Spotlight on Wealth Trends 2025
- Henley & Partners, Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 and 2026; World's Wealthiest Cities 2025
- Capgemini, BCG, Altrata and Julius Baer 2026 editions (global context only)
- Tax Policy Associates; Tax Justice Network; Spear's (methodology)
- Cushman & Wakefield, Savills, JLL and CBRE investment reports 2025–26
- Law-firm notes: Macfarlanes, Wedlake Bell, Baker McKenzie, Deloitte, Vialto, Garrigues, Cuatrecasas
- AICEP, Gulf News, Lusa, ECO, Observador, Euronews, Essential Business
What the flows mean for your own move.
The reports describe the pattern. A relocation turns on one family, one tax position and one timeline. We are glad to walk through how these figures bear on yours, and to bring in our legal and tax partners where they should.
This monitor is for information only. It is not investment, tax, immigration or legal advice. Figures are attributed to their publishers; estimates are labelled as such; official statistics are from AIMA, INE, Eurostat and Banco de Portugal. Assessments are Luznur Capital's own and should be tested against a specific situation before any decision.
Wealth Migration Monitor
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