Dubai has ranked first in the world for attracting new greenfield foreign direct investment projects in the cultural and creative industries in 2025, holding the top spot for a fourth consecutive year. The emirate drew 754 new projects in the sector, placing it ahead of London, Singapore, Riyadh and Bengaluru among 233 global cities, according to Financial Times Ltd’s fDi Markets data, as reported by the state news agency WAM.
Those 754 projects brought in 3.756 billion dollars in greenfield capital inflows and generated 19,304 new jobs over the year, with Dubai also ranking second globally for FDI capital in the sector. The projects spanned advertising and public relations, specialised computer programming, data processing and digital services, film, media and gaming, AI-powered creative technologies, design and architecture, and entertainment.
The result reflects a sustained push to strengthen Dubai’s place in the global creative economy. The emirate is targeting further growth through its Dubai Cultural Strategy 2033, which aims to attract more than 6,000 international creatives, expand the emirate’s cultural asset footprint by more than 200 percent and lift the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product to 5.4 percent.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, said the emirate had “established a pioneering model through which it continues to transform creativity into an economy, talents into projects, and ideas into investment opportunities.” She credited the result to “the vision of its wise leadership and its unique approach.”
She pointed to the enabling environment behind the numbers. “The flexibility of legislation and regulations, the advanced infrastructure, and the business environment that supports innovation have contributed to enhancing investors’ confidence in Dubai’s ability to provide a renewed economic and cultural system,” she said, one “capable of keeping pace with and anticipating global transformations, and opening new paths for investment and growth.”
