The UAE has witnessed significant growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the recent years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Economy reported that during the past decade, FDIs increased by 116 percent, amounting to US$20.667 billion in 2021 compared to $9.566 billion in 2012. Since 2013, FDI inflows have risen from $9.764 billion to $11.071 billion, $8.55 billion to $9.604 billion, $10.354 billion to $10.385 billion in 2018, $17.874 billion to $19.884 billion in 2022. As a result of this growth, the UAE was ranked 19th globally among the top 20 countries that attract foreign direct investment, as well as the first in West Asia and the Middle East and North Africa.
A further increase of more than $100.5 billion in cumulative FDI balances was also recorded by the UAE from 2011 to 2021, raising from $71.02 billion to $171.563 billion last year. FDI has continued to flow into all national economic sectors in recent years. National manufacturing grew by 13 percent, healthcare by nine percent, ICT by six percent, financial, banking and insurance sectors by four percent, real estate by four percent, oil and gas by three percent, and services by two percent, according to the Central Bank of the UAE.