Small business, big win: UAE ranks first for SME support

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Government support lifts UAE to 21st overall, while SME backing scores a global-best 96.4 Add as a preferred source on Google UAE scored 96.4 for financial system support to SME…

Government support lifts UAE to 21st overall, while SME backing scores a global-best 96.4

Dubai: The UAE ranks first globally for how well its financial system supports the growth and success of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The 2026 Global Financial Inclusion Index scores the country 96.4 on that measure.

Principal Financial Group and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) released the findings on November 10. Overall, the UAE rose one place to 21st among the 42 markets tracked.

The index scores each market on three criterias: government support, financial system support and employer support. It draws on public data and surveys. It uses data that gauges access to transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance to base its ratings.

The UAE’s government score rose 1.4 points this year, although its rank held at 19th. Last year, improvements in the financial system lifted the country’s position. The financial system pillar still advanced two places to 22nd.

SMEs are where the UAE stands out the most. Its score of 96.4 for financial system support to SME growth and success is the highest in the index. The UAE also ranks fourth globally for how well its financial system enables business confidence. Both measures improved over the past year. Ironically, global perceptions of the financial system’s role in business confidence and SME growth declined over the same period.

Charles Brooke, senior managing director and head of Middle East, Central Asia and Africa at Principal Asset Management, links the ranking to the wider ecosystem. “The UAE’s number one global ranking for the financial system as an enabler of SME growth and success points to the strength of the financial ecosystem supporting businesses in the country,” he said.

Brooke adds that digital rollout and visible policy changes at the government and financial system level are reaching residents.

The UAE sits in the global top five for overall perceptions of financial inclusion.

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