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.

The UAE's economy grew 6.2% year-on-year to AED 1.9 trillion in 2025, driven by a 6.8% expansion in the non-oil sector, which reached AED 1.5 trillion, according to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC).

The fifth edition of Make it in the Emirates, held at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi from May 4–7, drew more than 1,200 exhibitors across 88,000 square metres, cementing advanced manufacturing as a cornerstone of UAE economic strategy.

The UAE welcomed more than 32 million hotel guests in 2025, generating Dh49.2 billion in hotel revenues – a 9.7% year-on-year increase – according to the Emirates Tourism Council's annual sector report.

Abu Dhabi's MGX has joined a USD 2.1 billion Series B funding round for Isomorphic Labs, a UK-based AI-driven drug design company.