concentration is the worst in the EU, tax reform-2026 did not help
The concentration of wealth in Cyprus is one of the highest in the European Union.: The top 10% of households own about 67% of the country’s net worth, according to a recent study by the European Commission. Since 2007, their share has increased by 13 percentage points, and the island is once again debating whether it’s time to shift taxes from wages and consumption to accumulated wealth, StockWatch writes.
Why do the rich get richer faster than the working ones?
The logic of the problem is most easily explained through the arguments of Gary Stevenson, a former Citibank trader who became one of the most recognizable supporters of the tax on large fortunes thanks to a book and a popular YouTube channel.
His idea is simple: those who already have capital earn money from stocks, businesses, and real estate, and these assets rise in price faster than wages rise, and most families live only on wages. The more wealth a narrow stratum accumulates, the more national income goes to the return on capital rather than into the pockets of workers.
Housing is a good example: capital is flowing into real estate, prices are rising faster than incomes, and it is increasingly difficult for younger generations to buy their first apartment. According to Stevenson, this is not a matter of personal effort, but a structural shift in the economy, and the usual income tax does not cure it — you need an annual tax on very large fortunes.
Cyprus is one of the few EU countries without inheritance tax
The island has a special profile here: the inheritance tax was abolished back in 2001, and there is no annual tax on wealth or large real estate at all. The tax reform, which has been in effect since the beginning of 2026, has not affected wealth either: it has raised the tax-free minimum, expanded the scale, provided benefits to families and raised the corporate tax to 15%.
The AKEL party proposed two tools — an annual 1% levy on real estate more expensive than 3 million euros and a step-by-step levy on companies with the exemption of small businesses; according to party Secretary General Stefanos Stefanu, each would bring about 50 million euros per year to the budget for social programs. The parliament rejected both initiatives: supporters of the reform prioritized household relief and economic competitiveness. The Volt party, in turn, pointed out that the Cypriot treasury is too dependent on indirect taxes, and proposed to impose expensive real estate, except for basic housing.
The scale of the omission is shown by the calculation of the European Commission itself: a pan—European minimum tax of 2% on the largest fortunes — the idea of the French economist Gabriel Zukman, discussed at the G20 – would theoretically bring Cyprus about 1.2 billion euros per year. Critics, however, warn that such taxes can scare off investors and divert capital to other jurisdictions.
How many billionaires are there in Cyprus and whose are they?
There are ten billionaires with Cypriot citizenship on the Forbes world list in 2026, four of them indicate Cyprus and their main place of residence. Most of them are Cypriots only by passport. That’s who’s who by origin:
Norway — John Fredriksen, the richest in the list ($21.2 billion, 118th place in the world). Shipowner: tankers, gas carriers, drilling platforms. Lives in London.
India — Vinod Adani ($20.8 billion, 121st place), the elder brother of tycoon Gautam Adani; ports, airports and green energy. Lives in Dubai.
Israel — Yakir Gabai ($4.2 billion, 1011st place), developer, co-owner of European real estate giants Aroundtown and Grand City Properties.
Russia is the largest group, four people. Igor Makarov, the founder of Itera Gas company ($2.3 billion), renounced his Russian citizenship in 2023 in favor of a Cypriot one. Timber industrialist and former State Duma deputy Vladimir Krupchak ($1.6 billion, Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill) lives in Limassol. Both JetBrains co—founders, Sergey Dmitriev ($1.4 billion, lives in Paralimni) and Valentin Kipyatkov ($1 billion), also settled on the island.
Cyprus — the indigenous Cypriots on the list are represented by one family: easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou ($1.4 billion), his brother, shipowner Polis ($1.4 billion) and sister Clelia ($1.2 billion), co-owners of the airline. All three live in Monaco.
In ten years, the number of millionaires on the island has grown by about a third, and in the latest Henley & Partners ranking, Cyprus ranks first in Europe and fourth in the world in terms of attractiveness for wealthy people to move (it’s worth remembering that Henley earns money from investment migration, so its numbers are more of a trend indicator). In other words, wealth continues to flow to the island, but the question of whether it will be taxed remains open and, apparently, will return to parliament more than once.
