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Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a leading global financial hub, recorded its best-ever performance in H1 2025, setting a new benchmark for company registrations and ecosystem growth.
To further highlight DIFC’s record-breaking results in 2025, the total number of active registered companies jumped from 6,153 to 7,700 in H1 2025, which marks a 25% year-on-year increase. Of those, 1,081 were newly active registered companies that joined between the first six months – a 32% increase on the same period in 2024.
The number of professionals working in DIFC rose from 43,787 to 47,901, marking a significant 9% increase from the previous year.
DIFC’s Unstoppable Growth
A global leader in financial services, Dubai stands beside cities like London, New York, and Paris in terms of financial prosperity. This expectation is reflected in DIFC’s exceptional growth so far this year. Driven by strategic initiatives and unmatched scale in the region, DIFC advances the city’s position as a global financial hub.
Presently, DFSA, the independent regulator for business undertaken from or within DIFC, regulates a total of 980 entities. This number is up by 17% compared to last year. Meanwhile, the total financial services authorisations grew by 28% since last year, reaching 78 in H1 2025 compared to 61 in H1 2024. As for DIFC’s banking and capital markets cluster, the sector saw a 17% growth rate with a total of 289 companies operating in the sector, up from 247 a year ago.
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Dubai is also home to the highest concentration of private wealth in any Middle Eastern city, which further supports growth in DIFC’s wealth and asset management cluster, the biggest in the region. The number of firms in the sector increased by 19% to hit a total of 440, up from 370. Currently, DIFC is home to over 85 hedge funds, a 72% increase over the last 12 months.