Greenfield foreign direct investment into the UAE reached USD 5.4 bn in 1H 2025, spread across 613 projects, according to an Emirates NBD report (pdf). That’s down around 9% from the same period last year, which saw FDI come in at AED 21.85 bn.

The geographical breakdown: Dubai remained the country’s dominant FDI hub, attracting USD 3 bn in capital across 526 projects — accounting for 86% of the national total. Sharjah ranked second, drawing in USD 1.5 bn from only 24 projects, pointing to a concentration of high-value inflows. Abu Dhabi raked in USD 595.8 mn across 42 projects, while Ras Al Khaimah brought in USD 188.6 mn from six projects.

Kuwait leads on capital, UK tops project count:

  • Kuwait emerged as the largest investor by capital, committing USD 955.7 mn in 1H, nearly all of it linked to a AED 3.5 bn mixed-use real estate development in Sharjah by Kuwait Real Estate Company;
  • The US ranked second in investment volume at USD 889.5 mn across 94 projects;
  • India followed with USD 677.9 mn across 101 projects;
  • China and Italy also featured among the top contributors, with China investing USD 413.2 mn across 16 projects, and Italy USD 387.6 mn across 18 projects;
  • On a project-count basis, the UK led with 120 greenfield projects.

By the sector: The real estate sector attracted the largest capital share, reaching USD 1.1 bn from 29 projects. Transportation and warehousing followed with USD 770.4 mn, while business services accounted for USD 687.2 mn. Communications drew USD 359.5 mn, and software and IT services accounted for USD 298.9 mn. In terms of project volume, business services led with 183 projects, followed by software and IT services (108), financial services (65), transportation and warehousing (42), and industrial equipment (39).

1H 2025 saw some big FDI-led tech + sustainability projects: Microsoft and Core42 announced plans to build sovereign AI cloud infrastructure in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi AI giant G42 is partnering with OpenAI to build Stargate UAE. Sustainability-linked investment also gained momentum, with Italy’s Greenthesis and the UAE’s Beeah committing USD 346.6 mn to develop the region’s first polyethylene film recycling facility in Sharjah.

Freezones attracted USD 1.6 bn in greenfield FDI across 107 projects — just 17.5% of all projects but 29.9% of total capital.

REMEMBER- The value of UAE greenfield FDI projects fell 33% y-o-y to USD 14.5 bn in 2024, accounting for 36% of GCC projects, trailing only Saudi Arabia, while the number of projects rose 2%. The UAE aims to attract AED 1.3 tn in FDI from 2025 to 2031.

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