Dubai welcomed Dh32.4 billion ($8.82 billion) of greenfield foreign direct investments and created nearly 39,000 jobs in 2025, reinforcing the effectiveness of its economic diversification strategy even amid geopolitical challenges.
The emirate attracted 1,253 projects, up 10.5 per cent from last year, accounting for 7 per cent of global greenfield FDI projects, the Dubai government media office said on Tuesday, citing data from the Financial Times' FDI Markets database.
That helped Dubai gain a record share in the global market and remain the top destination for such inflows for a fifth straight year.
Greenfield FDI involves a company establishing operations in another country by building new structures. The number of projects surpassed the 1,117 recorded in 2024, although that year's value was higher at Dh52.3 billion, which was up by a third from 2023.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, noted that the index also ranked Dubai – the financial and commercial hub of the Middle East – No 1 in key sectors including manufacturing and artificial intelligence.
“These achievements reflect Dubai’s clear vision, competitive business environment, and growing global appeal as a leading destination to live, work and invest,” he added.
The latest data comes as Dubai continues to diversify its economy with programmes designed to attract overseas companies to set up shop in the emirate and contribute to the wider UAE.
The emirate aims to double the size of its economy to Dh32 trillion over the next decade and establish the emirate among the top three global cities as part of its D33 strategy.
Dubai has attracted nearly Dh427 billion in FDI inflows since 2015, with about 57 per cent earmarked for medium and high technology sectors, according to the government's Dubai FDI Monitor.
The government has also extended more opportunities for entrepreneurship: earlier this month, it unveiled SME in a Box, a new programme aimed at helping small and medium companies get off the ground faster and in a more cost-effective manner.
On a broader scale, the UAE was listed as the world's fifth most competitive nation in a report by the International Institute for Management Development, coming in first globally for economic performance, bureaucracy, adaptability of government policy, employment, international experience, national culture and quality of air transport.
