Dubai has climbed to seventh place among the world’s leading financial centres, its highest-ever ranking, as the UAE attracts record foreign direct investment.
Dubai has risen to seventh place among the world’s leading financial centres, its highest-ever position, as the UAE continues to attract record levels of foreign direct investment and expand its financial, technology, and artificial intelligence sectors. The emirate climbed four places in the Global Financial Centres Index 39, published in March 2026 by the Z/Yen Group in partnership with the China Development Institute.
The ranking places Dubai alongside established global hubs such as London, New York, and Singapore. It is the highest position ever achieved by a financial centre in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia region, and Dubai remains the only centre from the region to feature in the global top 20. The result marks a significant step toward the emirate’s stated goal of becoming one of the world’s top four financial centres by 2033.
The improvement in the ranking has come alongside a strong performance in attracting international capital. According to Khaleej Times, the UAE drew AED177.3 billion, equal to about $48.3 billion, in FDI inflows during 2025, underlining the country’s growing appeal to global investors. Figures from the UN Trade and Development World Investment Report 2026 showed that FDI inflows into the UAE rose by 6 percent over the year, making the country the world’s ninth-largest recipient of foreign investment.
Dubai Global Financial Centres Index Ranking Explained
The Global Financial Centres Index is a widely followed measure that ranks financial centres based on factors such as business environment, infrastructure, human capital, and reputation. Dubai’s rise to seventh place reflects sustained investor confidence in the emirate’s regulatory framework and its broader economic direction.
The city’s financial ecosystem is anchored by the Dubai International Financial Centre, which has recorded strong growth in recent years. The Dubai Financial Services Authority licensed and registered 182 new firms in 2025, a third consecutive year of double-digit growth, bringing the total number of regulated entities in the centre to 1,050. That figure represented a 16 percent increase over the previous year and coincided with the emirate reaching its highest-ever position in the index.
Officials have linked the progress to Dubai’s long-term economic planning. The advance supports the aims of the Dubai Economic Agenda, known as D33, which seeks to double the size of the emirate’s economy by 2033, and the DIFC 2030 Strategy, which targets a place among the world’s top four financial centres. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE, and President of DIFC, said the rise reflects the strength of the emirate’s economy and its growing role in shaping the future of global finance.
UAE Foreign Direct Investment Record and Economic Growth
The wider investment picture has reinforced the ranking. Total FDI stock in the UAE reached AED1.17 trillion by the end of 2025, placing the country among the world’s strongest investment destinations. The 2025 inflows marked the fourth consecutive year of record FDI, a trend that officials say reflects confidence in the country’s stability and business environment.
Dubai has also maintained a leading position in greenfield investment, which involves new projects rather than mergers or acquisitions. The emirate retained its status as the world’s top destination for greenfield FDI projects for a fifth consecutive year, attracting 1,253 projects in 2025, a 10.5 percent increase from the previous year. That gave Dubai a record 7 percent share of all greenfield projects worldwide, its highest ever. The emirate also kept the top global ranking for headquarters greenfield projects and for artificial intelligence-related projects.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said the latest figures confirm the UAE’s status as a global destination for investment and opportunity. Officials have pointed to the diversity of the investment flows, spanning business services, tourism, transportation, consumer products, real estate, software, and financial services, as evidence of momentum across both traditional and future-focused sectors.
The performance comes as the UAE continues to diversify its economy away from oil and to strengthen its non-oil sectors. With registered companies across the country exceeding 1.45 million by early 2026, the growth in business activity underlines the broadening of the economic base that has supported Dubai’s climb up the global financial rankings and its ambitions for the years ahead.
