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Dubai tops greenfield FDI volumes globally in 1H 2025: Dubai ranked as the top city globally for the number of greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 1H 2025 for the eighth time in a row, according to data from Financial Times’ Ltd’s fDI Markets picked up by the Dubai Media Office. The emirate saw 643 greenfield projects during 1H, making it the highest number recorded by fDI Markets for a six-month period and putting it 478 projects clear of the second-ranking city.
Placing high for capital, jobs, and HQs: The emirate took second place in terms of capital values, rising from fourth place in 1H 2024, after it brought in roughly USD 11 bn in capital during 1H — up 62% from the year before, according to Dubai FDI Monitor data. It also moved from fourth to third place this year for the number of jobs created through FDI. An increasing number of firms also chose to set up their headquarters from Dubai, with a 60% rise in HQ FDI projects putting it in first place.
By the sector: In terms of sectors, business services contributed 31.3% of capital inflows, followed by construction (28.6%), retail (10.7%), logistics, distribution and transportation (7.8%), and manufacturing (7.5%). For project volumes, retail functions accounted for 36.6% of total projects, followed by business services (30.7%), sales, marketing and support (21.3%), HQ (2.9%), and logistics (2.4%).
Leading the region: The emirate placed first regionally in terms of greenfield FDI capital values and job creation. It accounted for 56% of projects in the Middle East and 8% globally.
Who’s buying in? 35% of capital FDI inflows came from the US, followed by the UK with 10.6% and France and India with 8.9% each. Saudi Arabia rounded out the top five with 5.2%.
The wider FDI picture: Aside from greenfield projects which made up 52.4% of investments in the emirate, novel investment types accounted for 36.1% and reinvestments made up 4%.
The FDI success isn’t just limited to Dubai, with the Emirates securing USD 5.4 bn in greenfield FDI, which Emirates NBD had estimated to come from 613 projects during the first six months of this year. It also estimated that Dubai accounted for USD 3 bn worth of investments across 526 projects. Sharjah followed in second place with USD 1.5 bn — a 361% y-o-y surge in value.
