The UAE attracted USD 48.24 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025, a 6% increase year-on-year, securing its position as the ninth largest FDI recipient globally and the leading destination in the MENA and GCC regions, ahead of Saudi Arabia at thirteenth, according to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2026.

Dubai's Executive Council, chaired by Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has approved an AED 18 billion package of strategies and projects spanning infrastructure, culture, trade, digital governance and Islamic finance in further pursuit of the emirate's D33 economic agenda.

Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence investment firm MGX has closed its inaugural MGX Fund I at AED 179 billion, drawing capital from a broad consortium of institutional and private investors spanning the Gulf, North America, Asia and Europe.

Dubai's stock exchange has reached AED 1 trillion in market capitalisation – quadrupling from AED 250 billion five years ago – as international participation crosses a historic threshold, with foreign investors now accounting for 54% of total trading liquidity for the first time.

Dubai has retained its position as the world's leading destination for greenfield foreign direct investment for the fifth straight year, attracting 1,253 announced projects in 2025, a 10.5% increase on 2024, according to the fDi Markets database.

The UAE has secured fifth place globally in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2026, topping the Economic Performance pillar and leading 21 global indicators, according to the report published by Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development.

The six-nation GCC bloc is forecast to grow 8.1% in 2027 as energy trade routes normalise and tourism and business confidence rebuild, according to a new Economic Insight report from ICAEW and Oxford Economics.

UAE banks are intensifying competition for retail deposits, offering savings rates significantly above the central bank's 3.65% base rate.

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) has secured recognition from Switzerland's Financial Market Supervisory Authority as a foreign trading venue, enabling Swiss institutions supervised by FINMA to access DFM's trading platform directly and facilitating the listing of Swiss-incorporated equities in Dubai.

South African investment in Dubai has exceeded AED 1 billion over the past five years, spanning key sectors including information and communications technology, pharmaceuticals, and food industries, according to Dubai Chambers.