Dubai Stock Market Enters Gulf Region Leadership with 17% Annual Growth

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index rose 17.22% over 2025, recording one of the top performances among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock markets. The index climbed from 5,158.67 points at the end of 2024 to 6,047.09 points by the end of 2025, with market capitalization increasing by 85.2 billion dirhams (approximately $31.2 billion) to reach 992.1 billion dirhams (approximately $364.3 billion).

Looking at Gulf region markets, Oman's stock exchange recorded the highest growth at 28.1%, followed by Kuwait (21.17%) and Dubai (17.22%). In contrast, Saudi Arabia's Tadawul index declined 13.14%, moving in the opposite direction.

Foreign Investors Drive Market with $1.6 Billion in Net Purchases

Dubai's market surge was largely driven by active buying from non-Arab foreign investors. Foreign investors purchased 72.7 billion dirhams (approximately $26.7 billion) and sold 66.9 billion dirhams (approximately $24.6 billion) over 2025, recording net purchases of 5.8 billion dirhams (approximately $1.6 billion).

Among individual stocks, Etihad Ittihad Holding led with a 167.2% surge, while the financial and real estate sectors showed strength with Union Property (104.14%), Amlak Finance (93.77%), and GFH Financial (86.9%). Emirates Airlines and major UAE bank stocks also rose more than 30%.

Abu Dhabi Market Up 6.1%, UAE Total Market Cap Increases by 15 Trillion Won

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) index rose 6.1% in 2025, closing at 9,992.72 points. Fujairah Cement recorded the highest growth at 122.2%, followed by GFH Financial (93.2%) and Union Insurance (84.6%).

The combined market capitalization of UAE's two major exchanges increased from 3,907 billion dirhams (approximately 1,433 trillion won) at the end of 2024 to 4,131 billion dirhams (approximately 1,516 trillion won) by the end of 2025, adding 224 billion dirhams (approximately 82 trillion won) in value. Annual trading volume reached 550.8 billion dirhams (approximately 202 trillion won), with Abu Dhabi accounting for 385.6 billion dirhams and Dubai for 165.2 billion dirhams.

Gulf Markets Show Mixed Results, Saudi Arabia Down 13%

Gulf stock markets showed stark contrasts in 2025. While Bahrain (4.06%) and Qatar (1.81%) saw modest gains, Saudi Arabia's Tadawul index declined 13.14%. The Saudi market closed at 10,491 points at the end of 2025, though it rebounded 1.1% on the final trading day of the year.

This reflects differences in economic structures and foreign investment attraction policies among Gulf nations. While the UAE attracted foreign capital through financial hub development and aggressive opening policies, Saudi Arabia appears to have undergone temporary adjustments amid oil price volatility and economic diversification efforts.

Year-End Trading Sees Broad Gains Across Major Stocks

On the final trading day of 2025 (December 31), Dubai's index rose 0.53% and Abu Dhabi's index gained 0.29%, closing the year on a strong note. In Dubai, Emaar Properties (1%), Emaar Development (1.68%), and telecom operator Du (2.5%) rose, while in Abu Dhabi, ADNOC Gas climbed 2%.

Egypt's stock market also showed year-end gains with trading volume of 6.8 billion pounds (approximately 190 billion won), though small and mid-cap indices declined.