The 49-year-old singer and composer is also the best selling Arab artist of all time, with 50 million albums sold world-wide. Diab has released 25 studio albums since 1983, whilst he has worked on collaborations with 14 international artists, and his songs have been featured in six different movies. A huge part of his fortune is also understood to have come from touring, with Diab performing concerts in the Middle East, Australia, US and Europe.

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Diab is followed in second place on the list by Nancy Ajram, who is estimated to have earned $36.3m during the past decade alone. Although having only released seven studio albums, Ajram’s wealth has risen fast on the back of phenomenal DVD sales and live albums, plus a number of lucrative sponsorship deals.

Ajram is followed in third place by Elissa with $35m, and Fairuz on $29.5m. The 55 year old Lebanese singer and soprano Majida El Roumi is ranked fifth with $28m, one place ahead of Lebanese composer Marwan Khoury, with $24m.

Full list: Arab world’s richest pop stars