Dubai tops again in creative industries cluster FDI
Dubai has maintained its first place as the world's leading destination for greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) in the cultural and creative industries (CCI), topping the Financial Times' fDi Markets ranking for the third consecutive year.
The 2024 report, which assessed 233 cities under the 'Creative Industries Cluster' classification, placed Dubai ahead of global hubs such as London and Singapore.
During the year, the emirate attracted 971 CCI projects — an 8% increase from 2023 — bringing in AED18.86 billion ($5.13 billion) in capital inflows, up nearly 60% from 2023, and generating 23,517 new jobs, a 9% year-on-year rise.
All major CCI subsectors saw stronger performance, with notable growth in advertising and PR, film and media production, gaming, education, and advanced software design. According to the Dubai FDI Monitor, greenfield, wholly-owned ventures made up 76.5% of all projects, while new forms of investment represented 15.4%, reinvestment 5.6%, and mergers & acquisitions (2.4%).
Data from the Dubai FDI Monitor and the Dubai Framework for Cultural Statistics show that the US accounted for the largest share of capital inflows in 2024, at 23.2%, followed by India (13.4%), the United Kingdom (9.4%), Switzerland (7.6%), and Saudi Arabia (4.8%). India led in both the number of projects (18.8%) and jobs (18.5%), while the UK, US, Germany, Italy, and France also featured prominently across both metrics.
Investor confidence continues to be driven by Dubai's pro-business reforms, including Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025, which enables free zone businesses to operate onshore, expanding commercial flexibility. The city's Zero Government Bureaucracy programme is also reducing red tape across more than 2,000 federal procedures.
Combined with strong intellectual property protections and advanced digital infrastructure, these initiatives have helped establish a regulatory framework marked by efficiency, transparency, and ease of doing business.
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