Where South Africa’s millionaires live

Most of South Africa’s millionaires live in Johannesburg. However, this might not be true for much longer as the city has lost 44% of its millionaires over the past decade, and Cape Town is catching up. 

This was revealed by Henley & Partners in its annual Africa Wealth Report which details where the richest people on the continent live. 

South African cities continue to be the most popular cities in Africa for millionaires to live in, making up six places in the top ten. 

At the city level, Johannesburg holds its place as the wealthiest in Africa, with 12,300 millionaires, 25 centi-millionaires, and 2 billionaires. 

Cape Town follows closely with 7,400 millionaires, 28 centi-millionaires, and 1 billionaire. Cairo (7,200 millionaires), Nairobi (4,400), and Lagos (4,200) also stand out as key urban wealth hubs.

When it comes to future millionaire-magnet cities and regions, Cape Town, South Africa’s Whale Coast, Kigali, Windhoek, Swakopmund, Nairobi, Tangier, and Marrakech are all expected to enjoy 85%+ millionaire growth over the next 10 years. 

Cape Town is on track to overtake Johannesburg to become Africa’s wealthiest city by 2030, and Henley & Partners expect several major Johannesburg-based companies to move their head offices to the city by then. 

Johannesburg has seen the number of millionaires living within its boundaries decline by 44% over the past decade, with many moving to South Africa’s coastal areas. Pretoria has seen a similar decline. 

This trend is also seen in the country’s property market, with Cape Town’s booming along with many smaller towns in the Western Cape. 

The declining quality of service delivery in Johannesburg drives this trend, as many who can afford to will choose to move to better-run parts of the country. 

Durban, Umhlanga, and Ballito also experienced a decline in the number of millionaires living in those areas over the past decade. 

The Garden Route is the country’s fastest-growing region in terms of millionaires moving there, with its millionaire population shooting up 38% in the past decade. 

Where South Africa’s millionaires live