GFCI 40: Dubai Takes First Place Worldwide for FinTech, Abu Dhabi Rises Eight Places to 13th

16 September 2026

Dubai took first place worldwide for FinTech in the 40th edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 40), published on Wednesday 16 September 2026 by the London think tank Z/Yen together with the China Development Institute. In the main index Dubai holds ninth position with a rating of 750 points: two rank places below GFCI 39, but eight rating points higher, and it remains the only centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) inside the world top ten. Abu Dhabi rose eight places, from 21st to 13th, and added 18 rating points to reach 746, the largest rating gain of any centre in the top 20. GFCI 40 ranks 117 centres out of 139 researched, and it is built on 39,531 assessments from 6,147 financial professionals combined with 144 instrumental factors supplied by third parties such as the World Bank, the OECD and the UN.

GFCI 40 in numbers for the UAE

Where the fintech first place actually comes from

GFCI 40 contains two different fintech readings, and the headline number refers to one of them. Alongside the main ranking, Z/Yen rebuilds the index separately using only the answers of respondents who work in a given industry, producing sub-indices for Banking, Investment Management, Insurance, Professional Services, Government and Regulatory, Finance, FinTech and Trading. In the FinTech column of that table Dubai takes first position, ahead of New York, Singapore, London, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, with Abu Dhabi ninth. In other words, the people who build and run fintech businesses rate Dubai higher than any other centre on earth. Of the 6,147 people who answered the GFCI questionnaire, 377, or six per cent, work in fintech.

Separately, the report also publishes a standalone FinTech index covering the 115 centres that received enough assessments of their fintech offering from the full respondent base. In that table Hong Kong leads with 758 points, followed by New York on 749 and Shenzhen on 748, while Dubai sits 11th with 721 points and Abu Dhabi 13th with 718. Abu Dhabi climbed five places there, from 18th. Reporting the two tables as one number is the most common mistake made with this index, so it is worth stating plainly: Dubai is first among fintech professionals, and eleventh in the broader fintech offering ranking.

Dubai: rank down, rating up

The apparent contradiction in Dubai’s result is a function of how tightly the top of the index is packed. New York leads on 761 points, London follows on 757, Hong Kong on 756 and Singapore on 755. Shanghai is fifth on 754, Tokyo sixth on 753 after a four place jump, Seoul seventh on 752, Shenzhen eighth on 751, Dubai ninth on 750 and Zurich tenth on 749. Twelve rating points separate first place from tenth. Dubai improved its own score by eight points, yet Tokyo, Seoul and Shenzhen improved faster and moved above it, so the city slipped from seventh to ninth while getting objectively stronger. Zurich entered the top ten and San Francisco dropped out of it to 11th.

Across the five areas of competitiveness Dubai places sixth for Reputational and General factors, ninth for Infrastructure, tenth for Human Capital, and eleventh for both Business Environment and Financial Sector Development. In the industry sub-indices it is second for Professional Services, fifth for Government and Regulatory, tenth for Trading and eleventh for both Investment Management and Insurance. Dubai also tops the table of centres that respondents expect to grow in significance over the next two to three years, with 156 mentions against 137 for Singapore and 106 for Casablanca. Dubai led that same table in GFCI 38 and GFCI 39 as well.

Abu Dhabi makes the biggest move in the top 20

The sharpest UAE result in GFCI 40 belongs to Abu Dhabi. Eight rank places and 18 rating points is the largest single edition improvement anywhere in the top 20, and it moved the capital into that group alongside Beijing and Osaka, displacing Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. In the industry sub-indices Abu Dhabi is fifth for Professional Services, ninth for FinTech, twelfth for Government and Regulatory, fourteenth for Finance and fifteenth for Investment Management. Across the areas of competitiveness it ranks thirteenth for Infrastructure and Financial Sector Development and fifteenth for Business Environment. It is also fourth on the list of centres expected to grow in significance, with 60 mentions.

The wider region in GFCI 40

Dubai and Abu Dhabi again take first and second place in the Middle East and Africa. Casablanca is third in the region and 38th globally after rising 11 places, and Riyadh is fourth in the region and 46th globally after rising 15 places, one of the six largest climbs in the whole index. Doha is 52nd, Mauritius 55th, Kuwait City 60th, Bahrain 74th and Kigali 80th. Average ratings across the Middle East and Africa rose 0.82 per cent, close to the global average increase of 0.8 per cent; Asia Pacific led with 1.48 per cent, while Eastern Europe and Central Asia fell 1.09 per cent. Across the whole index 58 centres rose, nine held their position and 49 fell.

What the respondents said centres should prioritise

For this edition Z/Yen asked which policy areas financial centres should treat as most urgent over the next five years. The four answers given most often were investing in digital infrastructure, including cloud, data connectivity and cybersecurity resilience; attracting fintech and digital asset businesses; strengthening anti-money laundering and financial crime frameworks; and deepening capital markets. Three of the four are areas in which the UAE has been visibly active, which helps explain why both Emirates show up strongly in the perception based part of the index.

What this does and does not change for companies in the UAE

An index result is a measurement, not a regulation. No licence fee, tax rate, reporting obligation, visa rule or corporate account opening requirement changed on 16 September 2026 because of GFCI 40. Anyone planning a company setup in the UAE faces exactly the same procedure, documents and timelines as the day before the report came out, and the criteria for opening a corporate bank account still turn on the licensed activity, the ownership structure, the source of funds and the substance of the business in the country. What the index does give is comparable evidence of how the market is perceived by the people who work in it, which is useful in a board paper, an investor deck or a discussion with a compliance officer abroad who is deciding how to treat a UAE counterparty.

Used correctly, GFCI 40 supports four practical claims and no more:

• Dubai is rated first in the world for fintech by fintech professionals, and ninth overall among 117 ranked centres.
• Abu Dhabi is now a top 15 global centre and made the biggest single edition improvement in the top 20.
• Dubai has led the list of centres expected to grow in significance for three consecutive editions of the index.
• Nothing in the report changes the rules, costs or timelines of establishing or banking a business in the UAE.

How Atlant Capital can help

We work with the practical side of these headlines. That means choosing between a free zone and a mainland licence on the basis of the actual activity rather than a ranking, preparing the corporate file so it survives bank compliance review, and keeping the company in good standing afterwards. If you are starting from the beginning, our guide to opening a bank account in the UAE sets out what banks ask for and in what order, and the company formation guide covers structures, activities and costs. Tell us what the business does and where its money comes from, and we will tell you which route is realistic.

Conclusion

GFCI 40 gives the UAE its strongest combined showing to date: a global first place for fintech as judged by fintech professionals, the only MEASA centre in the world top ten, and a capital city that has moved into the top 15 with the largest rating gain in that group. The rating arithmetic also shows how competitive the top of the table has become, with twelve points covering ten centres and Dubai improving its score while losing two rank places. For businesses on the ground the report changes no rule and no fee, but it does give a well sourced answer to the question of how seriously the rest of the financial world takes the UAE.

Source: Khaleej Times, Long Finance, GFCI 40 report.

FAQ

Where does Dubai rank in GFCI 40?

Dubai is ninth in the main Global Financial Centres Index 40 with a rating of 750 points, down two rank places from seventh in GFCI 39 but up eight rating points. It is the only financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia in the world top ten. The centres above it are New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and Shenzhen, with Zurich tenth.

Is Dubai really number one in the world for fintech?

Dubai is first in the FinTech industry sub-index of GFCI 40, which is built only from the assessments of respondents who work in fintech. New York is second, Singapore third, London fourth and Hong Kong fifth, with Abu Dhabi ninth. In the separate standalone FinTech index, which uses assessments of fintech offering from the whole respondent base of 115 rated centres, Hong Kong leads on 758 points and Dubai is eleventh on 721.

How did Abu Dhabi perform in GFCI 40?

Abu Dhabi rose eight places to 13th and gained 18 rating points to reach 746, the biggest rating improvement of any centre in the top 20. It entered the global top 20 alongside Beijing and Osaka, replacing Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. In the sub-indices it is fifth for Professional Services, ninth for FinTech and twelfth for Government and Regulatory.

Does GFCI 40 change anything for setting up a company in the UAE?

No. GFCI is a ranking compiled from 39,531 professional assessments and 144 instrumental factors, not a regulatory instrument. No licence fee, tax rate, reporting obligation or bank account requirement was amended on 16 September 2026. Company formation and corporate account opening continue to depend on the licensed activity, ownership structure, source of funds and the substance of the business in the UAE.