It is estimated that foreign investment in Dubai's real estate market represents at least US$146 billion. India, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran lead the list of real estate investments made in the tax haven, with Portugal appearing in 59th position, in a list of 194 jurisdictions. There are, therefore, about 350 Portuguese citizens with 819 properties valued at 238.2 million dollars.

From that list, 165 properties are located in the Dubai marina area and 18 on the famous artificial island of Palm Jumeirah, according to a raw file associated with the study, cited by Público. In almost all cases, the 819 properties associated with Portuguese residents (with an average age of 48.4 years) were directly owned by individuals (the file states that there were less than five cases in which the assets were owned by companies).