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The UAE pulled in a record USD 48.24 bn in FDI in 2025, the ninth-highest total in the world and the highest in the Middle East — ahead of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, India, and Australia, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) said in its annual World Investment Report (pdf).
The 6% y-o-y increase kept the UAE’s ranking unchanged from 2024, with Unctad crediting the UAE and Saudi Arabia’s growth to energy, infrastructure, and diversification strategies. West Asia as a whole saw inflows climb to almost USD 111 bn from USD 92 bn, driven largely by the two Gulf economies.
Why it matters: The UAE’s own national investment strategy targets AED 240 bn a year in FDI flows by 2031. Last year’s haul converts to roughly AED 177 bn — real progress, but still short of the goal, with three years left to close the gap.
It was still a big outbound investor, but less so than before. UAE outward investment fell to USD 63 bn in 2025 from USD 77 bn in 2024, dropping the country from sixth to ninth among the world’s top home economies. Elsewhere in the region: Kuwait entered the top 20, and Saudi Arabia dropped out, though it remained an important source of project finance.
Looking ahead…
The US-Iran war is the major downside risk to 2026 FDI — potentially pushing Gulf outward investors toward domestic priorities and prompting more caution on new cross-border commitments, a shift the agency says is already visible in delayed or cancelled M&A agreements. Capital-intensive investment in infrastructure, energy, and industrial activities are the most exposed, Unctad says.
The overview? “Overall, the conflict is likely to depress global FDI in the near term and contribute to a more selective and uneven recovery, favouring locations with greater macroeconomic stability, lower geopolitical risk and more resilient infrastructure,” the report says.
Want the biggest picture? We break down how the Gulf and the wider region stacked up in FDI inflows last year in this morning’s Planet Finance, below.
