{"id":575380,"date":"2026-07-08T16:31:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/575380\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T16:31:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:31:22","slug":"uae-among-worlds-top-10-recipients-of-fdi-in-2025-un-report-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/575380\/","title":{"rendered":"UAE among world’s top 10 recipients of FDI in 2025, UN report says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Foreign direct investment<\/a> into the UAE rose by about 6 per cent to reach $48.24 billion in 2025, the ninth highest total in the world, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad<\/a>) has found.<\/p>\n

The UAE was the top recipient of FDI<\/a> in the broader Middle East region, ahead of Saudi Arabia, which ranked 13th among host nations, Unctad said in its World Investment Conference 2026 report on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The Emirates ranked ahead of Mexico, India and Australia, due to a sharp rise in greenfield investment flows.<\/p>\n

The country’s ranking was unchanged from 2024 as it claimed the second spot globally by greenfield project count, for a third consecutive year, the UAE Government Media Office said on Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Investment’s UAE Foreign Direct Investment Report 2026.<\/p>\n

The Emirates received FDI for 1,562 projects in 2025 as it pushed achieve its National Investment Strategy 2031 goal of $65 billion in annual FDI inflows.<\/p>\n

The figures are \u201cnot merely economic indicators but the outcome of a national vision, the dedication of a unified team and the global trust placed in a nation that turns ambition into reality and opportunities into achievements\u201d, said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid<\/a>, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai. \u201cWe pray that what lies ahead for the UAE is even greater.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UAE, the Arab world’s second-largest economy, is pushing to diversify its economy from oil by expanding its industrial base and signing bilateral investment agreements with global trading partners. Attracting FDI is among the main planks of the government’s diversification agenda. <\/p>\n

In recent years, the UAE has succeeded in consistently attracting record levels of FDI flows, which expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 24 per cent in the 2021-25 period, said Mohamed Alsuwaidi, UAE Minister of Investment. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes 2025 a distinctive year is not only the scale of inbound capital, but its composition. Investment continued to diversify across sectors, deepening in quality and broadening in geographic origin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenfield boost <\/b><\/p>\n

While FDI in greenfield projects in the Emirates accounted for about 45 per cent of aggregate inflows, mergers and acquisitions gained traction to represent 8 per cent, while reinvestment stood at 11.2 per cent, the media office said. <\/p>\n

The start-up ecosystem in the country also attracted larger funding rounds, with the average deal reaching $9.2 million, nearly double the previous level.<\/p>\n

In total, the UAE attracted $34.1 billion in capex, or 1.8 per cent of the global total, to greenfield projects. Manufacturing accounted for 30 per cent of investment inflows, while telecoms and digital infrastructure secured 29 per cent of flows. Property accounted for 7 per cent of the aggregate, propelled by wealth migration and the UAE’s consolidation as a preferred domicile for global talent, the media office said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2025, greenfield FDI generated more than 65,000 jobs across sectors as diverse as transport and warehousing, business services, software and IT, automotive manufacturing, financial services and communications \u2013 directly advancing the UAE’s economic diversification,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Outbound FDI<\/b><\/p>\n

The Unctad said UAE also ranked among the top 10 global economies for outbound FDI flows, with more $63 billion of investments in 2025, down from $77 billion recorded a year earlier. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Al Zeyoudi: Major investments coming at home and abroad<\/p>\n

The UAE, as well as its peers in the Gulf region, remained a significant source of outbound FDI capital alongside mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Aggregate FDI to developing economies rose to $1.1 trillion in 2025, up from $1 trillion, as these countries together accounted for more than one third of developing-economy inflows, Unctad said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UAE remained ranked ninth in the top 20 home economies and Kuwait entered the ranking. Although Saudi Arabia dropped out of the top 20, it remained an important source\u201d Unctad said. The Emirates ranked sixth on the list in 2024. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe UAE has been especially visible through recent greenfield megaprojects \u2026 [with] notable examples including the $34 billion Infinity Power renewable energy project in Mauritania, the $24 billion Ras El Hikma real estate development project in Egypt and the $6 billion H2 Global Energy hydrogen project in Tunisia,\u201d the report said. \u201cMajor projects in 2025 included digital infrastructure investments from UAE firms MGX Fund Management in France and Damac Holding in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uncertain outlook<\/b><\/p>\n

However, FDI prospects for 2026 and beyond remain uncertain with \u201cmacroeconomic conditions remaining a central source of weakness\u201d, Unctad said.<\/p>\n

Geopolitical tension, conflicts and persistent uncertainty about trade policy further complicate investment decisions for private and sovereign investors, it said.<\/p>\n

The start of the Iran war in February constitutes a \u201cmajor adverse shock to the global investment environment, exerting downward pressure on FDI through higher costs, greater uncertainty and tighter financial conditions\u201d, the report added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the region, heightened security risks, disruptions to transport and logistics, and rising insurance and operating costs are leading to the suspension, delay or cancellation of many ongoing and planned investment projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there is a ceasefire in place, risks remain until the US and Iran reach a permanent peace deal.<\/p>\n

With uncertainty and heightened tension persisting \u201ccapital-intensive investment \u2013 particularly in infrastructure, energy and industrial activities \u2013 is the most exposed\u201d, the UN report said. <\/p>\n

The implications of the Middle East conflict vary and will weaken the projects pipeline in fuel-importing and financially constrained economies. <\/p>\n

Oil exporters, among major outward investors globally, may focus on domestic needs and adopt a more cautious approach to new cross-border commitments, a shift already visible in delayed or cancelled mergers and acquisitions deals, the report added. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

US launches renewed strikes on more than 80 targets across Iran<\/p>\n

Global flows <\/b><\/p>\n

Globally, aggregate FDI <\/b>flows rose 6 per cent annually to $1.6 trillion in 2025, ending two years of decline. Inflows to developed economies rose 11 per cent, while developing economies recorded only a 2 per cent increase, pointing to \u201cnarrow, fragile and uneven\u201d recovery. The world’s top 20 host economies attracted more than 80 per cent of global FDI in 2025, the report noted. <\/p>\n

Developing economies received more than half of global FDI in 2025, but growth remained modest. Developing Asia remained the largest recipient region, attracting $644 billion, while FDI in Latin America and the Caribbean rose 14 per cent to $188 billion, Unctad data showed.<\/p>\n

Africa received about $70 billion \u2013 one third above its 2010 to 2024 average despite falling from the exceptional level reached in 2024. <\/p>\n

The least developed countries recorded a rise in FDI inflows of 21 per cent to $43 billion, but still accounted for only 2.7 per cent of global FDI. <\/p>\n

Sectors such as AI infrastructure, semiconductors, critical minerals and energy-transition technologies and services accounted for 44 per cent of global greenfield project values in 2025, up from 16 per cent in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growth in project values was driven mainly by data centres, followed by oil and gas and semiconductors,\u201d Unctad said. \u201cMost other sectors registered declines, including renewable energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, showing how narrow the recovery remains.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Foreign direct investment into the UAE rose by about 6 per cent to reach $48.24 billion in 2025,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[174],"tags":[79,6671,179,18,17551,19,3442,17,1702,1217,3818],"class_list":["post-575380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-business-team","tag-economy","tag-eire","tag-gcc","tag-ie","tag-investing","tag-ireland","tag-standard","tag-story","tag-uae"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116885317318823332","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}