Transfers through the UAE’s money transfer system, managed by the Central Bank, exceeded 22.1 trillion dirhams over 11 months of 2025. Data released by the Central Bank reveals that the total amount transferred from the beginning of the last year to November of the same year was higher by 4.3 trillion dirhams, reflecting a growth rate of nearly 25% compared to the total transfers made during the same period in 2024.
According to the data, interbank transfers accounted for the largest share of the overall transactions via the Central Bank’s system during this timeframe, representing 60% with a total value of approximately 13.2 trillion dirhams. This segment showed a growth of 17%, adding about 1.9 trillion dirhams compared to interbank transfers in the same period of 2024, which totaled 11.3 trillion dirhams.
Conversely, individual transfers held a 40% share of the total transactions, amounting to 8.9 trillion dirhams and achieving a substantial growth of 33% compared to the same period in 2024, where the total was 6.7 trillion dirhams. During this 11-month period, the banking sector processed more than 20.8 million cheques totaling over 1.3 trillion dirhams.
Additionally, bank lending to the private sector in the UAE increased by 10.6% from the start of last year until the end of November, with banks providing more than 140 billion dirhams to the private sector, which includes loans to both business and individual sectors.
According to Central Bank data, the cumulative amount of private sector borrowing reached around 1.482 trillion dirhams by the end of November 2025, compared to about 1.342 trillion dirhams at the end of the previous year.
In contrast, investments by banks operating in the country rose by approximately 14.4% over the 11-month period, bringing the total investment balance to nearly 841 billion dirhams, which includes an addition of around 106 billion dirhams to their investment portfolio during that timeframe.