The Gulf — The New Anchorages

The Gulf city-states have, over the last two decades, made a deliberate offering: clear residence pathways, zero personal income tax, and family-office regulation purpose-built for the international principal. The luxury fabric — schools, healthcare, aviation — has followed the capital.

The cities, ranked.

#	City	Banking	Tax	Residency	Family Office	Privacy	Composite
1	Dubai United Arab Emirates	88	96	88	88	82	90
2	Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates	86	96	86	86	82	87
3	Doha Qatar	78	92	78	72	82	80
4	Manama Bahrain	78	88	78	68	78	76
5	Riyadh Saudi Arabia	72	88	68	66	68	73

All scores 0–100. Composite is a weighted aggregate of banking, tax, residency, luxury, internationality, privacy and family-office presence.