Citizenship by Investment Statistics: The 2026 Numbers Page

The investment-migration industry's key figures in one place — program prices, processing times, visa-free counts, and the market's size — compiled from government program documentation, Henley & Partners industry reports, and EU/IMF publications. Journalists, bloggers and researchers: cite any figure with a link.

The industry, in numbers

• Investment migration is estimated to be a $20+ billion per year global industry (Henley & Partners industry estimates), spanning citizenship and residence programs on every inhabited continent.
• Around 100 countries operate some form of residence- or citizenship-by-investment framework — but only roughly a dozen offer true direct citizenship programs.
• Demand skews heavily toward American, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern and Russian-diaspora applicants, with U.S. interest surging in recent election cycles.

Caribbean program prices (the market's core)

• The Caribbean five — St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Lucia — signed a 2024 harmonization agreement setting a $200,000 minimum investment floor, ending the era of $100k passports.
• Current entry points run roughly: Dominica, St. Lucia and Antigua from ~$200,000; Grenada from ~$235,000; St. Kitts & Nevis from ~$250,000 (donation routes; real-estate routes price higher). Full breakdowns in our program comparison.
• Typical processing: roughly 3–9 months under the enhanced due-diligence regimes adopted since 2023–24 — the fastest-programs guide ranks current timelines.

Visa-free power statistics

• St. Kitts & Nevis: ~150+ destinations visa-free/visa-on-arrival — the Caribbean's strongest document.
• Grenada: ~140+ destinations — and the region's only passport with visa-free China, plus the U.S. E-2 treaty route.
• Dominica, St. Lucia, Antigua: ~140+ destinations each, including the Schengen area.
• For context, top-tier passports (Singapore, Japan, EU states) run ~190+ destinations — CBI documents buy mobility, not the world record.

The programs beyond the Caribbean

• Turkey: $400,000 real-estate route — the world's highest-volume CBI program by application count.
• Vanuatu: from ~$130,000 — the fast Pacific option, with the trade-off of suspended EU visa-free access.
• Malta — the EU's flagship program was struck down by the European Court of Justice in 2025, effectively ending direct EU citizenship-by-investment — the industry's most consequential legal event in years and the reason “EU passport by donation” offers circulating online deserve extreme skepticism. Our legality guide covers what remains lawful.
• U.S. EB-5: $800,000 minimum in targeted employment areas — residence-to-citizenship, not direct CBI. The EB-5 guide maps it.

Applicant behavior statistics

• Family applications dominate — most programs price spouse and children into the structure, and family inclusion is the single most-asked question in the industry.
• Tax motivation is real but widely misunderstood: a second passport alone changes little for U.S. citizens taxed on worldwide income — the honest math lives in our tax-benefits guide and the Americans’ guide.
• Due-diligence rejection rates have risen industry-wide since 2023 as programs tightened under U.S./EU pressure — clean sourcing of funds is now the application's decisive factor.

Compiled from official program documentation (CIUs of St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Lucia; Turkish and Vanuatu programs; USCIS EB-5), the 2024 Caribbean harmonization memorandum, the 2025 European Court of Justice ruling on Malta, and Henley & Partners industry reporting. Figures reflect the latest publicly available data as of early 2026, are rounded for readability, and shift as programs reprice — verify current numbers against primary sources before relying on them. Start at the second passport guide or the how-to walkthrough.