The UAE attracted a record USD 33.2 bn in greenfield foreign direct investment in 2025, a 78% jump y-o-y, according to a new report (pdf) by Emirates NBD. The number of projects saw a more muted uptick of 10.7% y-o-y, pointing to several large-ticket plans driving the figure, and putting the Emirates in 10th place globally for FDI capital inflows.

Breadth is growing too: The number of announced greenfield projects came in at nearly 1.5k, placing the UAE second globally by project count. The number of foreign companies investing in the country has nearly tripled since 2021, reaching 1.4k in 2025, signaling a broadening investor base.

Where the money landed: Dubai remained the main hub by activity, attracting 1.2k projects — 81% of the total — worth USD 8.5 bn. The emirate saw the most FDI projects in 1H last year, for the eight consecutive time. However, it was Ras Al Khaimah that took the top spot for capital inflows, drawing USD 10.6 bn across just 17 projects — propelled by a USD 10 bn smart manufacturing investment. Abu Dhabi secured 180 projects worth USD 5.2 bn, while Sharjah attracted USD 1.8 bn across 46 projects.

Who’s investing? India led by capital invested with USD 12.6 bn, driven by the aforementioned RAK manufacturing hub. The US followed with USD 10.3 bn, anchored by major data center and AI infrastructure investments from the likes of Microsoft, while the UK topped project count albeit with smaller average ticket sizes.

The UAE’s AI drive is evident in the sector breakdown. Capital inflows were dominated by automotive equipment manufacturing and communications, reflecting mega investments in EV manufacturing, data centers, and AI infrastructure. By contrast, business services led by project count, accounting for 28% of all projects, pointing to continued strength in services-led expansion.

Zooming out: Over the 2021-2025 period, the UAE attracted USD 98.4 bn in cumulative greenfield FDI across 5.6k projects, equivalent to a 32.3% CAGR in announced capital, reinforcing its position as one of the fastest-growing FDI destinations globally.

Who were we keen on? Once again, last year was marked by several high-value projects on the outflow side, which brought total outbound UAE FDI across 365 projects to USD 109.2 bn, up 51% y-o-y. MGX’s investment for a data center campus in France made it the highest recipient for capital values, followed by the US, thanks to Damac’s USD 20 bn data center commitment and Emirates Global Aluminium’s USD 4 bn aluminum plant.

Background: 2024 set the base

As we reported, the UAE ranked first globally for greenfield FDI relative to GDP in 2024, scoring 14.26 on FDI Intelligence’s Greenfield FDI Performance Index — more than 14x the inflows expected for an economy of its size. That strength came despite a 33% y-o-y drop in project value to USD 14.5 bn, even as project volumes rose 2%.

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