KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Henley & Partners has released its 2026 Residence and Citizenship Programs rankings, showing Europe’s long-standing dominance is being increasingly challenged by fast-rising programmes across the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Malta retained first place on the Global Citizenship Program Index for an 11th consecutive year, while Greece again topped the Global Residence Program Index, according to the firm’s independently assessed annual benchmark.
The report highlights a sharp rise by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which climbed from fifth to joint second place on the residence index, entering the global top three for the first time. Strong upward momentum was also recorded across Asia-Pacific and Central America, alongside steady gains by Malaysia, Mauritius, and Thailand.
Three countries make notable first appearances on the residence index, with Uruguay entering in fifth place, Saudi Arabia debuting in ninth, and the Maldives in 11th — underscoring the widening geographic spread of competitive residence offerings.
A similar recalibration is visible on the citizenship index, with several Caribbean and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) programmes improving their positions and two new entrants—Samoa and São Tomé and Príncipe—joining the global rankings.
According to Henley & Partners Chairman, Dr Christian H. Kaelin, the 2026 results mark a structural shift.
In a statement, he said Europe remains highly attractive, but its relative dominance is declining as jurisdictions such as Singapore and the UAE engage more strategically with globally mobile investors.
Projected millionaire migration in 2026 is expected to reach record levels, with wealthy families increasingly relocating to jurisdictions offering formal residence and citizenship frameworks designed to attract international investors and entrepreneurs.
The firm said intensifying competition among destination countries is driving a surge in structured mobility planning, noting that it onboarded clients from 95 countries over the past year as domicile portfolio strategies become mainstream among globally mobile families.
Its two indexes benchmark 40 leading residence and citizenship programmes, selected from more than 100 worldwide, based on criteria including reputation, quality of life, regulatory compliance, investment requirements, tax efficiency, processing standards and mobility outcomes, while interactive digital comparisons enable investors to evaluate programmes based on their individual priorities.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
