UAE and Saudi Arabia are estimated to attract 9,800 Millionaires…

UAE News:

Dubai reported a 7% YoY increase in international travellers to 8.7mn in January-May 2025, with 1.5mn clocked in the month of May. Visitors from Western Europe and the GCC accounted for 22% and 15% respectively. Hotel occupancy inched up to 83% (from 81% a year ago) and average daily room rate also rose to AED 620 (+5% YoY).

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the UAE’s Travel and Tourism Sector contributed AED 257.3bn to GDP (or 13% of the total): this was up 3.2% YoY and 26% higher compared to 2019. Visitor spending rose by 2.4% YoY to AED 217.3bn in 2024 and is estimated to jump 5% to AED 228.5bn this year.

Indian firms were the largest new non-Emirati companies registered in the Dubai Chamber of Commerce in Q1 – Indian firms grew by 4.4% to 4,543 – followed by Pakistani firms (2,154) and Egyptian firms (1,362).

Fitch Ratings affirmed the UAE’s AA- rating, citing “moderate consolidated government debt, strong net external asset position and high GDP per capita”. Abu Dhabi’s rating was affirmed at AA with a stable outlook, thanks to fiscal surpluses and low debt levels.

MENA News:

Egypt’s Hurghada International Airport will be opened to the private sector by the end of this year in a bid to modernise its infrastructure and operations. This is part of a national strategy in partnership with the IFC – a new public-private participation model for the country’s airports that will target 11 major airports.

Mobile phone subscriptions in Egypt increased to 120mn in 2024; the year also saw a 10% growth in mobile internet usage and the first 5G network license being issued.

FDI into Oman grew by 20.6% YoY to OMR 5.23bn in Q1 2025. US was the largest source of FDI, with a value of OMR 2.86bn in Q1 (+57.7% YoY), followed by the UK (+21% to OMR 2.7bn). By sector, oil and gas accounted for the largest share (OMR 4.8bn, or 92% of total).

Labour force in Oman stood at 1.81mn workers in Q1, up by a marginal 0.2% yoy, with the private sector accounting for 77.9% of the total. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan together accounted for over 80% of the expat labour in the country.

Revenues from the six airports in Oman increased by 17% YoY to USD 272mn in 2024, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. About 540k aircrafts (+14% YoY) and over 150k tonnes of cargo (+12%) were handled last year, with 34 airlines operating in the country.

The World Bank last week approved funding of (a) USD 930mn, to extend and modernise Iraq’s railways; (b) USD 250mn to reconstruct war-damaged infrastructure in Lebanon (as part of a broader USD 1bn recovery and reconstruction initiative called the Lebanon Emergency Assistance Project (LEAP)) and; (c) USD 146mn to Syria to restore and improve affordable electricity supply (after the 14 years of war left significant damage on grids and power stations).

LNG freight rates jumped to the most in eight months last week, on the Israel-Iran conflicts and tanker availability. Tensions in the Middle East also send war-risk insurance premiums for shipments to the region higher.

MENA region attracted USD 27.8bn in renewables financing in the period 2010-2023, with flows rising by 12%. For the period 2010-23, Egypt was among the top recipients, attracting a cumulative USD 5.9bn in financing, followed closely by Morocco (USD 5.6bn) In 2023 alone, solar accounted for 40% of the commitments while Turkiye received over half the flows, followed by Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt.

The IIF revealed that capital inflows into the UAE and Saudi Arabia were higher than outflows in 2024, for the first time in more than a decade. Flows into the UAE and Saudi Arabia are estimated to rise further in 2025, together accounting for almost 75% of total flows across 6 nations (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Nigeria and South Africa).

UAE and Saudi Arabia are estimated to attract 9,800 millionaires (highest net inflow globally) and 2,400 (fastest growth globally, up from 300 in 2024) respectively this year, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025. The report projects that 142k millionaires are expected to relocate globally in 2025.

Saudi Arabia’s exports fell by 10.9% YoY to SAR 90.3bn in April, dragged down by oil exports. Including re-exports, non-oil exports were up 24.6% to SAR 28.4bn. Imports surged by 18.3%, narrowing the trade surplus to SAR 14.2bn (-61.7%). Chemical industry products accounted for 26.4% of total non-oil exports and China was the largest trade partner (12.6% of exports and 25% of imports). Separately, oil exports accounted for 71.8% of total exports in Q1 2025, Asian nations received 74.6% of Saudi exports, and the trade surplus widened to SAR 63bn (+52% qoq).

Net FDI inflows into Saudi Arabia touched SAR 22.2bn in Q1 2025, up 44% YoY, though the value was down by 7% qoq. Gross inflows were up 24% YoY to SAR 24bn, again lower by 6% qoq. FDI outflows were down by 54% YoY to SAR 1.8bn.

Unemployment rate among Saudi citizens fell to 6.3% in Q1 2025 (0.7% from Q4 and 1.3% from Q1 2024), with Saudi female unemployment trickling down to 10.5% (Q4: 11.9%; Q1 2024: 14.2%); the share of women’s labour force participation rate also rose to 36.3% (the highest since Q3 2022).

Saudi IPOs on the Tadawul exchange raised a combined USD 2.8bn in H1 2025 from 6 offerings, with the flynas listing (that raised USD 1.1bn) leading market activity.

The number of point-of-sale transactions in the Saudi education sector nearly doubled in the week ended June 21 (+98.1% to 110), alongside a 666% weekly rise to SAR 193.27mn. Overall value of PoS transactions dropped by 1.5% to SAR 10.9bn.

The value of contracts in Saudi Arabia’s health, military, and infrastructure sectors grew by 18.75% to SAR 38bn last year, according to the Government Spending Report 2024. Infrastructure and transport saw investments total SAR 5.26bn, while the education sector was allocated SAR 4.37bn.

Global News:

Markets recovered last week following the Iran-Israel ceasefire and news related to easing US-China trade tensions. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit all-time highs, also supported by expectations of a Fed rate cut. Regional markets were mostly higher, with the Dubai index rising to its highest level in 17 years (and ending 6.2% higher than the week before). The US dollar clocked in its lowest levels in 3.5 years vis-à-vis the euro, while later in the week, Trump’s comments about ending trade talks with Canada led to gains. Oil prices were down by around 12% from a week ago, the most since March 2023, after reports of OPEC+ planned hike in August alongside lower risks of supply disruption on the back of the Israel-Iran ceasefire. Gold price fell for the second week in a row, by over 2% last week, as geopolitical risks seemingly eased.

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SOURCE:
Nasser Saidi & Associates