Wealth and income percentiles in United Arab Emirates
How much net worth or income does it take to be in the top 10% or top 1% in the United Arab Emirates? Model estimates for 9.2 million adults aged 20+, reference level 2025.
Net worth thresholds in United Arab Emirates
Net worth is private assets (property, deposits, securities, business ownership) minus debt, per adult. Thresholds show the minimum net worth needed to belong to each group.
| Group of adults | Threshold, USD |
|---|---|
| Median (top 50%) | USD 52,000 |
| Top 10% | USD 367,000 |
| Top 5% | USD 654,000 |
| Top 1% | USD 1,820,000 |
| Top 0.1% | USD 8,220,000 |
| Average (mean) | USD 190,000 |
Income thresholds in United Arab Emirates
Income is a harmonized pre-tax economic income per adult used for cross-country comparison. It is broader than wages and includes capital income, pensions and some imputed components.
| Group of adults | Threshold, USD |
|---|---|
| Median (top 50%) | USD 29,600 |
| Top 10% | USD 136,000 |
| Top 5% | USD 195,000 |
| Top 1% | USD 450,000 |
| Top 0.1% | USD 1,480,000 |
| Average (mean) | USD 58,100 |
United Arab Emirates in a global context
United Arab Emirates has 0.17% of the world’s adults. About 27.1% of them are in the world’s top 10% by net worth and 2.2% are in the global top 1%. By income, the shares are 29.7% and 6.2%.
The median adult in the United Arab Emirates is in the global top 19.9% by net worth and the global top 14.0% by income. United Arab Emirates is home to about 0.36% of the world’s top 1% by net worth.
Data quality and sources
Scores run from 1 (strong direct national source coverage) to 5 (mainly modelled).
| Measure | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Net worth | 3 | Country-specific WIR/WID estimates with broad wealth shares and means. Not a complete national individual distribution; large parts of the curve and extreme tail are modelled. |
| Income | 3 | Country-specific WIR/WID estimates with broad income shares and means. Not a direct official national wage/register distribution; thresholds between groups are modelled. |
- World Inequality Report 2026: Country Sheets
- World Inequality Lab TN 2026/04: Global Inequality Update
- World Inequality Report 2026: Country Sheets
- World Inequality Lab TN 2026/04: Global Inequality Update
Amounts are converted at fixed exchange rates of 2025-12-31; they do not adjust for purchasing power. Thresholds in the extreme top are modelled and uncertain.
Frequently asked questions
How much net worth do you need to be in the top 1% in the United Arab Emirates?
About USD 1,820,000 in net worth (assets minus debt) per adult, according to the WealthPercentile model for 2025. The top 10% starts at about USD 367,000.
What is the median income in the United Arab Emirates?
The median adult in the United Arab Emirates has a broad pre-tax economic income of about USD 29,600 a year. This measure is broader than wages: it includes capital income and some imputed components, so it is higher than a typical payslip.
How many adults in the United Arab Emirates are in the global top 1%?
About 2.2% of adults in the United Arab Emirates are in the world’s top 1% by net worth, and 6.2% by income.
How reliable are these numbers?
They are model estimates. The data-quality score for the United Arab Emirates is 3/5 for net worth and 3/5 for income, where 1 means strong direct source coverage and 5 means mainly modelled.