UAE tops Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2025/2026, ranked first worldwide for fifth consecutive year
UAE tops Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2025/2026, first worldwide for a fifth year, leading in policy, funding access, AI readiness and high startup participation across citizens and residents.
The United Arab Emirates has been ranked first globally in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2025/2026 report, marking the fifth consecutive year it has held the top position. The GEM assessment highlights the UAE’s leading environment for starting and scaling new businesses, citing strengths across infrastructure, government policy, and market access. Authorities attribute the performance to sustained policy reforms, targeted initiatives and a financial ecosystem that enables fast-moving startups and innovators.
UAE Tops GEM 2025/2026 for Fifth Consecutive Year
The GEM report places the UAE at the summit of global entrepreneurship for 2025/2026, outperforming many advanced economies across multiple indicators. The report credits the country’s integrated approach to entrepreneurship, where regulatory reform, digital readiness and targeted programs combine to lower barriers for founders. Officials say the ranking validates long-term strategies to position the UAE as a preferred destination for entrepreneurs and investors.
Policy, Infrastructure and Regulatory Strengths
GEM identifies the UAE as the global leader among high-income economies in eight policy-related indicators, including physical infrastructure, tax and bureaucracy policies, and government entrepreneurship programs. The country scored highly on the ease of market entry and regulatory burden measures, reflecting streamlined procedures and pro-business legislation. Analysts note that the coherence between national strategies and implementation has strengthened investor confidence and reduced administrative friction for new ventures.
Robust Financing and Investor Readiness
The report ranks the UAE second globally for entrepreneurial finance and ease of access to finance, signalling a deep and diverse funding landscape. Government-backed initiatives, venture capital, private funds and alternative financing channels were cited as contributors to the financing ecosystem’s flexibility. As a result, startups in the UAE find multiple pathways to capital, supporting both early-stage launches and rapid growth rounds.
High Entrepreneurial Participation and Talent Mix
Entrepreneurial activity in the UAE is notably high, with more than one in five adults starting new ventures and a Total Early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate recorded at 19.2%. The report shows entrepreneurial participation rates of 19.6% among Emirati nationals and 22.4% among residents, indicating broad-based engagement across demographic groups. Observers point to accessible support services, targeted training and incentives that help convert ideas into viable businesses.
AI, Sustainability and International Market Reach
GEM finds strong alignment between the UAE’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and future-oriented priorities such as artificial intelligence and sustainability. The UAE is among six nations where entrepreneurs uniformly view AI as critically important in the next three years, and it shares top ratings with Taiwan, Norway and Sweden for both sustainability priorities and AI awareness. The country also ranks among the top five globally for international reach, reflecting advanced logistics and trade infrastructure that help startups scale into foreign markets.
Education, Culture and Gender Inclusion in Entrepreneurship
The report highlights notable progress in entrepreneurship education, placing the UAE among the highest-ranked countries for school-based programs that develop creative thinking, risk assessment and opportunity recognition. Family business traditions remain an important motivator for many founders, reinforcing entrepreneurship as a culturally embedded career path. The GEM findings also point to improved inclusion for women entrepreneurs, with increased access to resources and opportunities that support business formation and growth.
GEM’s national entrepreneurial context index (NECI) awarded the UAE a score of 7.0 for 2025, reflecting a robust national environment for entrepreneurship based on expert evaluations. The country is one of just four economies that met or exceeded the benchmark of “sufficiency” across every condition in the index, underscoring the maturity and resilience of its ecosystem.
The UAE’s leadership in the GEM report aligns with national objectives such as the “We the UAE 2031” vision and recent campaigns promoting the country as a global capital for entrepreneurs. Government and private-sector stakeholders said the ranking reinforces ongoing efforts to support priority sectors including technology, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, space and fintech.
The GEM report draws on an extensive methodology, incorporating responses from more than 160,000 adults, over 2,000 national experts and hundreds of technical researchers, covering 53 economies that account for a significant share of the global population and GDP. Its findings offer policymakers and investors a comparative measure of where entrepreneurial ecosystems are performing well and where further interventions may be required.
Looking ahead, officials and ecosystem actors said the focus will remain on sustaining momentum by scaling success across regional hubs, expanding access to capital for later growth stages, deepening talent pipelines in emerging technologies, and strengthening pathways for startups to internationalize. The GEM ranking provides a benchmark that UAE authorities and partners plan to use as they refine policies and programs to maintain competitiveness in a rapidly changing global economy.