Leading the World in Attracting Wealthy Individuals for Three Consecutive Years
Third Globally for Graduates in Science and Use of Digital Tools and Health Infrastructure
7th in Economic Strength and Stability and 8th in Overall Global Influence Index
9th in Foreign Investment Confidence
10th in the Global Soft Power Index for 2025
The UAE Rises 8 Places in the Global Talent Report 2025 to 9th Position Worldwide
The remarkable ascent of the UAE began in 2006 under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, establishing the country among the top five globally in international competitiveness indices. This journey, encapsulated in the mantra “We only accept first place,” has successfully cultivated a unique soft power that has astonished the world and confirmed that leadership is an inherent Emirati trait.
The year 2006 marked the launch of Sheikh Mohammed’s vision to enhance the UAE’s competitiveness through positive change, investing in human capital, and establishing robust foundations for comprehensive and sustainable development.
In 2009, he established the “UAE Competitiveness Council,” chaired by the Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Minister of Economy, with representatives from the federal and local governments and the private sector to enhance the national competitiveness strategy and realize the government’s vision of placing the UAE among the most competitive nations globally.
In 2015, the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority was created to oversee the Cabinet’s work, replacing the National Bureau of Statistics and the UAE Competitiveness Council. By 2020, the Cabinet approved renaming the authority to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center and attached it to the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs.
The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center has played a vital role in organizing the statistical and competitive sectors within the nation and enhancing the UAE’s standing in global competitiveness reports through a comprehensive statistical system and raising competitiveness across various sectors. As a result, competitiveness has become an integral part of the national governmental work framework.
Competitiveness Indicators
Since 2006, the UAE has experienced continuous strides in global competitiveness, leading in hundreds of international indicators across various competitive and developmental reports. The UAE ranks first globally in 279 indicators, such as government efficiency, absence of bureaucracy, legislative speed and flexibility, business environment, talent attraction, governmental digital transformation, macroeconomic stability, security, healthcare quality, satisfaction with road quality, and women in parliament.
By 2011, the UAE vaulted from 28th place to the top five nations in the Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2025, published by the International Institute for Management Development, reflecting the effectiveness and efficiency of the comprehensive development strategy embraced by the UAE, showcasing its leadership in government management, economic strength, security, stability, and high quality of life it offers to residents.
The UAE also ranked among the top five in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2025 report issued by the Global Competitiveness Center, recording a score of 96.09 out of 100, improving by two positions from 2024, and retained its status as the top region for the ninth consecutive year.
The UAE excelled in numerous specialized international indices, leading in areas like the use of artificial intelligence in public services, digital infrastructure readiness, and public-private partnerships.
It achieved second place globally in social cohesion and residency law flexibility, and third globally in science graduate indices and the use of digital tools and technology in the health infrastructure.
The UAE secured the tenth position globally in the Global Soft Power Index for 2025, announced in February during the Annual Global Soft Power Conference in London. Additionally, the value of the UAE’s national media identity rose from one trillion dollars to over one trillion and twenty-three billion dollars by 2025.
The nation stood first globally in the performance of its national media identity, fourth in future growth opportunities, and sixth in the strength of its national media identity.
The UAE improved to the seventh position globally in economic strength and stability, eighth in the overall international influence index, and ninth in international relations, diplomatic influence, technology and innovation, also ranking within the top ten globally in investment and space exploration, as well as global public engagement with its affairs.
Remarkable achievements in gender balance have positioned the UAE 13th worldwide in the Gender Equality Index 2025 from the United Nations Development Program, maintaining its leading position regionally.
Continuous Achievements
In September, the UAE reached a new milestone by entering the list of the world’s top ten countries in the Global Talent Report published by the International Institute for Management Development for 2025, advancing to ninth place, climbing eight ranks compared to last year’s report.
According to the report, the UAE scored 77.86, achieving first globally in five competitive indicators and ranking in the top ten in fifteen competitive indicators across main areas. The country secured first place regionally and globally in the preparedness axis, measuring the availability of skills in the labor market, twelfth globally in the attractiveness axis, which reflects countries’ ability to utilize global talent and attract international competencies, and improved six places in the investment and national talent development axis compared to 2024.
This advanced performance demonstrates the UAE’s comprehensive economic and human attractiveness, ranking first globally in attracting wealthy individuals for the third consecutive year, confirming its status as a global hub for talent, expertise, and high-value capital.
The UAE maintained its regional leadership among high human development countries in the 2025 Human Development Index report released by the United Nations Development Program, advancing eleven places from its ranking in the 2021-2022 report. It ranked 15th globally among 193 countries in that report, being the only Arab nation in the top 20.
Quality of Life
In health awareness programs, community participation in health policies, and enhancing quality of life, the UAE ranked first globally according to the “Health Inclusion Index,” presented by Halion in collaboration with Economist Impact during a discussion session held in Abu Dhabi last July.
This Health Inclusion Index serves as an international assessment tool that compares the performance of 40 countries across 58 sub-indicators in health culture, awareness, inclusion, and equity.
The UAE also secured second place globally in applying a comprehensive health system and ranked among the top five countries for patient-centered healthcare, while coming in tenth globally in health culture.
This outstanding health performance is further supported by the UAE’s leading social cohesion results, ranking it second globally per international competitiveness reports, reflecting a stable community environment conducive to health and quality of life.
Leadership
On the economic and business front, the UAE renewed its excellence in various global reports, ranking first globally for the fourth consecutive year in the “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2024/2025,” which identified the UAE as the best place for entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises among 56 economies this year. The UAE also ranked first among high-income nations in 11 out of 13 key indicators based on expert assessments of institutional frameworks supporting the entrepreneurial environment.
In the Foreign Investment Confidence Index published by A.T. Kearney for 2025, the UAE ranked ninth globally, rising ten places compared to 2020, demonstrating international investors’ confidence in the secure and stable business environment.
According to the Global Investment Report 2025 from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UAE ranked tenth globally as the largest destination for foreign direct investment, recording an unprecedented level of incoming foreign direct investment of 167.6 billion dirhams (45.6 billion dollars) in 2024.
A report by fDi Intelligence confirmed that the UAE achieved the first global ranking in the performance of new foreign direct investment in 2025 relative to its economic size, also coming in second place globally as the most favored destination for foreign direct investment in terms of incoming projects.
The second edition of the Digital Transformation Status Report in the UAE revealed leadership in several important governmental indicators on the global stage, ranking first globally in communication infrastructure, the institutional framework for digital government, digital content index, and digital knowledge index as documented by the United Nations. The UAE also ranked first in the digital governmental capacity index released by Oxford Insights, third in the service delivery index, fourth in the maturity index of digital transformation, ninth in the digital competitiveness index, and eleventh in the development of digital government index according to the United Nations.
The UAE has further cemented its status as one of the world’s most attractive nations for those wishing to live and work in a secure and stable environment, topping the list of the safest countries worldwide by mid-2025, according to the global statistics site Numbeo.
It recorded a safety score of 85.2 out of 100 in a report that evaluates safety levels based on criteria such as crime rates, public safety, quality of security services, and socioeconomic stability.
Creating Excellence
The qualitative leaps achieved by the UAE in global competitiveness indicators, soft power, and other international reports and metrics are a testament to the strategic excellence framework established by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum since taking office in 2006.
This vision has transformed governmental work from traditional management to a pursuit of excellence across all sectors, embedding competitiveness as a cultural and structural path that relies on investment in human capital and comprehensive digital transformation, positioning the Emirati model as an inspiring global reference for how nations can shift from planning to global leadership in record time.
The strategic strength of this approach is reflected in the UAE’s ability to maintain and enhance performance even under challenging global conditions; achieving a spot among the “big five” globally in competitiveness and tenth place in soft power demonstrates the synergistic roles between economic efficiency and cultural and diplomatic appeal.
This synergy showcases the sophistication of the Emirati experience, which not only built world-class infrastructure but also forged a “national media identity” valued over one trillion dollars, solidifying the UAE’s place as a global hub and magnet for talent from all over the world.
These continued achievements indicate that the UAE has transcended merely competing with others to compete with itself, as the philosophy of excellence guided by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum positions the UAE in a perpetual journey of advancement, seeking ever greater heights in its aspirations for the future.
Today, the UAE stands on the global excellence map, recognized not just as a successful nation, but as a pioneering model that has demonstrated to the world that when political will is combined with strategic vision, it can reshape history and define the contours of the future.
With this vision, competitiveness in the UAE is no longer merely a numbers race, but a continuous framework for a nation that knows precisely where it stands today and where it is headed tomorrow.