UAE tops Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2025-2026, claiming first place in global entrepreneurship rankings
UAE ranks first in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2025-2026, leading global entrepreneurship with strong policy support, broad finance access and high startup activity.
The United Arab Emirates has retained its position as the world’s leading environment for entrepreneurship, ranking first in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2025-2026 report for the fifth consecutive year. The UAE entrepreneurship ranking reflects top scores across multiple policy and market indicators, reinforcing the country’s role as a prime destination for new business formation and innovation.
Top scores across eight high-income economy indicators
GEM placed the UAE first among high-income economies in eight distinct indicators, including physical infrastructure and government policy support. The report highlighted strong performance on tax and bureaucracy measures, government entrepreneurship programmes and mechanisms for transferring research and development to the market.
Ease of market entry and regulatory environments were also singled out, along with entrepreneurial education, indicating a broad-based policy framework that supports both startups and scale-ups. These strengths contributed directly to the UAE’s overall leadership in the 2025-2026 assessment.
Financial ecosystem ranks highly and access to capital improves
The UAE ranked second globally in the report’s “entrepreneurial finance” and “ease of access to entrepreneurial finance” indicators, underlining the maturity of its funding ecosystem. The report described the financing environment as advanced and flexible, offering a wide range of capital sources for founders at different stages.
GEM noted that the UAE is among a small group of countries that have met or exceeded the framework’s sufficiency thresholds across all evaluated conditions, a benchmark that signals both availability and accessibility of funding for entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurial activity and demographic breakdown
Entrepreneurial participation in the UAE is substantial, with more than one in five adults reportedly starting new businesses. The Total Early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate stood at 19.2 percent, reflecting robust early-stage entrepreneurial momentum across the population.
The report also showed high levels of engagement among citizens and residents, with activity rates of 19.6 percent for nationals and 22.4 percent for expatriates. These figures point to a broadly inclusive entrepreneurial climate that attracts talent across demographic groups.
AI, sustainability and international reach highlighted
GEM identified the UAE among six economies where entrepreneurs widely agree on the central importance of artificial intelligence over the next three years. Along with Taiwan, Norway and Sweden, the UAE received top marks in both sustainability priorities and AI awareness, indicating strong strategic alignment between technological adoption and sustainability goals.
The country also ranked within the top five globally for “international reach,” showing that UAE startups enjoy comparatively strong capabilities to access markets beyond their borders. This external market orientation strengthens growth prospects for local companies.
Government response and national initiatives
Officials credited long-term strategic direction and targeted initiatives for the achievements noted in the GEM report. Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri described the ranking as evidence of integrated, competitive policies and the leadership’s prioritisation of entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises.
The minister highlighted recent campaigns and strategies designed to attract talent and support founders, including the national initiative branding the UAE as a capital for entrepreneurs worldwide. Authorities said such programmes have created an enabling environment for innovation and business scale-up.
Education, culture and family influence on entrepreneurship
GEM recorded notable progress in entrepreneurship education at the school level, placing the UAE among the top five countries for early-stage entrepreneurial learning. The report also found that more than half of entrepreneurs view family tradition as a key motivator in starting and growing businesses.
These cultural and educational factors, combined with policy and finance support, form part of the multi-layered ecosystem that underpins entrepreneurship activity across the Emirates.
Scope and methodology of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
The GEM report is based on an extensive dataset that includes cumulative interviews exceeding two million since the project’s inception. The current edition draws on data from 53 economies, representing about 43 percent of the world’s population and roughly 57 percent of global GDP.
GEM’s 2025-2026 findings incorporate responses from more than 160,000 adult survey participants, input from over 2,000 national experts, and analysis by some 370 technical researchers, providing a composite view of entrepreneurial environments worldwide.
The GEM results reinforce a narrative of continuity and growth in the UAE’s startup landscape, reflecting coordinated policy action, improved access to capital, and rising entrepreneurial participation among both citizens and residents.
