The United Arab Emirates has maintained its upward trajectory in global competitiveness reports for 2024, securing leading positions in major indicators. This achievement reflects the vision of its wise leadership and its forward-looking strategy focused on human development, which remains the foundation and primary objective of the country’s progress.
The UAE achieved first place globally in 223 indicators, compared to 215 indicators in 2023. Additionally, the country ranked among the top 5 countries globally in 444 indicators, up from 406 in 2023. It was also recognized among the top 10 globally in 661 indicators, a notable increase from 604 in 2023 and 508 in 2022.
This remarkable progress underscores the UAE’s commitment to sustainable modernization of its legislative framework, the launch of proactive initiatives that support economic and investment ecosystems, the rule of law, and the deployment of advanced technologies. It also highlights the country’s efforts in enhancing the performance of various sectors to improve the quality of life for all residents and citizens.
In the 2024 Global Competitiveness Report, the UAE advanced three positions, reaching 7th place globally, following its impressive entry into the top 10 countries last year.
The UAE excelled across key pillars of the report, ranking 2nd globally in economic performance, 4th globally in government efficiency, and 10th globally in business environment efficiency. Its strong performance resulted in achieving global leadership in more than 90 indicators included in the report’s main and sub-pillars.
In the 2023-2024 Human Development Index issued by the UN Development Programme, the UAE ranked 1st regionally and 17th globally out of 193 countries surveyed.
For the third consecutive year, the UAE also topped the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report for 2023-2024, achieving a record-breaking score of 7.7, the highest ever recorded in the report’s history.
In the Travel and Tourism Development Index published by the World Economic Forum, the UAE ranked 1st in the Middle East and North Africa and 18th globally. Additionally, the country secured 5th place globally and 1st in the Arab world in road quality, 10th globally in public transport effectiveness, and 9th globally in port services efficiency.
The UAE also maintained its dominance in global aviation indicators. It ranked 1st globally for air transport infrastructure quality in the 2024 Travel and Tourism Development Index. It also achieved 3rd globally in both air transport service efficiency and the number of weekly international flight seats per kilometer.
According to the UNCTAD World Investment Report issued in June 2024, the UAE secured 2nd place globally—after the United States—for the number of new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 2023. The country recorded 1,323 new projects, representing a 33% growth compared to 2022. UAE-bound FDI inflows in 2023 amounted to $30.7 billion (AED 112.6 billion), while outward UAE investments reached $262.2 billion (AED 962 billion) by the end of the same year.
The UAE also achieved outstanding results in government and digital services indicators as reported in the 2024 UN E-Government Survey. The UAE ranked 1st globally in the telecommunication infrastructure index, achieving a perfect score of 100%.
Moreover, the country made a significant leap in the human capital index, advancing 34 positions to secure 10th place globally, up from 44th, while ranking 1st in Asia and the Arab world.
The UAE also achieved 5th place globally in the Quality Infrastructure for Sustainable Development Index 2024 issued by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), under the category of countries with a GDP ranging from $100 billion to $1 trillion.
