'I made £30m in Dubai - but this is why I had to leave after 2 years'

A millionaire who moved to Dubai to take advantage of its tax-free earnings has shared his reasons for leaving the city after only two years. Charlie Morgan said he moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2023 as a "business decision" and made £30million. The entrepreneur, who coaches people online how to make money, outlined the pros and cons of Dubai on his YouTube channel.

Mr Morgan praised the city's strict laws around alcohol and drugs for encouraging a healthy lifestyle. He also hailed Dubai as a safe place where you can feel "incredibly secure". But the cons outweighed the pros, as the businessman went on the explain. He described the city as a "revolving door" where people come and go, suggesting it was difficult to put down roots.

Dubai's air pollution was another reason for Mr Morgan's leaving the emirate. He said: "You can taste it. In the morning your throat congests."

Mr Morgan said in summer the pollution in Dubai would be so bad that you would be unable to see buildings a mile or two away. He added: "There's just this thick layer of polluted fog that surrounds the city and it's really unpleasant."

Other issues include the constant noise of building work and a "difficult" dating "market". He said: "I hate to use the words 'market' and 'dating' in the same phrase, but Dubai does attract a certain type of woman.

"You're less likely to find a wholesome, maternal figure in Dubai, when you think about the kind of girl who is attracted to Dubai."

Another complaint about the Middle East city is the water, which Mr Morgan said has sodium removed from it, leaving Dubai locals deficient in electrolytes.

He said all the electrolytes in the water are removed from drinking water so what happens is you end up becoming dehydrated because electrolytes hydrate you.

Dubai is also a "car-dependent" place, according to the YouTuber. He said: "The driving experience is not great if you want to have a car there. It is very much every man for himself and there's lots of traffic all the time."

Mr Morgan suggested he missed being able to walk to the park, pub or supermarket, as is possible in European cities.

The businessman said Dubai lacks "clear-cut" tax rules. He added: "I don't like tax jurisdictions that don't have clear-cut rules, because then, before you know it, you're liable for a fine."

On top of that, Mr Morgan said people in Dubai wear the same kind of clothes. He said "everyone looks the same", adding: "It's weird. Everyone conforms to this identity that I don't really like.

"Prime example, I saw a large group of entrepreneurs at an event, but it wasn't an event that I was attending and there was 40 or 50 of them and they all looked identical."

He also said social circles are "incredibly hard" to break into in the city, where there's "no sense of community".

Mr Morgan said he had a good circle of pals in Dubai, and met some "amazing" people, but the lack of community was another bugbear.

The former Dubai resident also said Dubai lacks nature, but did praise the UAE's canyons and deserts.

His last con was about the way Dubai is ruled. He said: "The government is obviously autocratic, which means it's not a democracy.

"I don't know quite how they run it but this issue is the final con, that everyone lives in constant fear."

Mr Morgan added that in the backs of people's minds there was a "slight fear" they could do something wrong and end up arrested and locked up.

He said: "I never did anything wrong, but a lot of people I spoke to over there shared this same sort of fear and you'd hear all these stories aren't probably true about p**sing off the wrong local and getting imprisoned."

The former ex-pat said: "You just need to be aware that there are real consequences to your actions."