According to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Dubai’s free zone licenses accounted for 52% of the total free zone licenses across the UAE by the end of last month.
The total number of active licenses in the free zones of the country increased by more than 13%, with approximately 28,000 new licenses issued in the past seven months of the current year, bringing the total to 240,000 licenses across 30 zones, compared to 212,000 licenses at the end of 2024.
Additionally, Dubai’s free zones captured 21.5% of the new licenses granted in the country over the past seven months, adding nearly 6,000 new licenses.
The free zones in Ras Al Khaimah secured the second-largest share of free zone licenses, exceeding 25% of the cumulative total across the country, with 61.2 thousand licenses recorded by the end of July. Following this, Sharjah accounted for 17% of the total licenses in the nation, with an active cumulative total of nearly 41,000 licenses.
Abu Dhabi’s free zones held a 4.7% share of the overall licenses operational in the country, with a cumulative record of 11.5 thousand licenses, while the remaining licenses were distributed among Ajman, Fujairah, and Umm Al Quwain.