Istanbul has emerged as the Middle East's top city for millionaires, according to new research by New World Wealth.

Istanbul boasts the largest high net worth and multi-millionaire population in the Middle East, according to New World Wealth's 2014 Middle East Wealth Report.

Last year, the business and financial centre of Turkey was home to 48,000 high net worth individuals (those with net assets of $1 million or more) and 4,720 multi-millionaires (those with net assets of $10 million or more).

The data adds to perceptions that while Turkey continues to have its share of economic, social and political problems (not least the violent turmoil in neighbouring Syria and Iraq), there is considerable potential in the country from a wealth management viewpoint. This publication explored this issue three years ago (see here); a number of firms such as JP Morgan and UBS operate in Turkey.

“Istanbul is the undoubted jewel of the Middle East in terms of wealth,” said New World Wealth analyst Andrew Amoils. “Istanbul also remains the main gateway of investment into the rest of the Middle East, as a large number of Istanbul-based businesses have big investments and projects in other Middle Eastern countries.”

The report linked the city's dominant position on the rankings to its strength in a range of sectors, including diversified, financial services, transport, real estate and construction, and shipbuilding. With the bulk of Turkish companies covering multiple core industries, diversified companies were deemed to be the primary source of wealth for 42 per cent of the country's multi-millionaires. 

Meanwhile, financial services was Turkey's second largest source of wealth for 13 per cent of local multi-millionaires. Dubai and Doha, on the other hand, while on the rise, were identified as more reliant on a select few industries, such as financial services, trade and oil and gas. They took the second and fourth spots respectively on both rankings.

As of the end of last year, around 460,000 high net worth individuals live in the Middle East, holding a combined wealth of $2.2 trillion, according to the report. Between 2000 and 2014, the region's high net worth population ballooned 136 per cent, compared to a global growth rate of 73 per cent over the same period.