One in 12 Residents is a Millionaire and Greeks Love This City

This city has become the world’s leading city in terms of millionaire residents, with one in every twelve inhabitants holding millionaire status. According to the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025 by Henley & Partners, the Italian metropolis of Milan hosts approximately 115,000 millionaires and 17 billionaires. The city ranks third in Europe and eleventh globally for the total number of wealthy residents, considering liquid assets only.

The city has also become a favourite destination for Greeks, with one in twelve Greek travellers expressing a particular fondness for Milan’s culture, fashion, and lifestyle.

Milan attracts wealthy entrepreneurs, executives, athletes, and foreign investors thanks to its high quality of life, prime location near Switzerland and Central Europe, dynamic luxury real estate market, and, most importantly, favourable tax policies. Milan also hosts three international airports, enhancing its accessibility.

A major incentive driving wealth to Milan is Italy’s 2017 “CR7 decree,” named after football star Cristiano Ronaldo, who applied it in 2018 upon joining Juventus. The law allows wealthy foreigners relocating to Italy to pay a flat tax of €300,000 on income earned outside the country, attracting millionaires and billionaires alike.

Milan also benefits from its historical status as Italy’s economic, fashion, and design capital. The city and the wider Monza-Brianza region host numerous family-owned international businesses, boosting the Lombardy region’s GDP and establishing it as one of Italy’s main economic engines alongside Piedmont, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna. Luxury real estate prices in Milan exceed €6,000 per square metre in many districts, reaching up to €10,000 in the historic centre.

However, Milan’s rising wealth contrasts sharply with the challenges facing middle-class residents. Housing and living costs have surged, with many workers spending more than 50% of their net income on rent and healthcare. CGIL, Italy’s largest labour union, reports that one-third of Milanese employees earn less than the city’s cost-of-living threshold, forcing some public sector workers to leave. Over the past two years, Milan has lost 14% of its public employees, with the largest declines in education (-18.6%), local government (-16.5%), healthcare (-14.1%), and the armed forces, police, and fire services (-8.3%).

While Milan continues to attract the global elite, experts warn that the city must address rising costs and public sector departures to avoid long-term social and operational challenges.