UAE Witnesses Historic Surge in Women's Investments, Real Estate Dominates as Top Asset Class

According to industry analysts, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is seeing an unprecedented boom of female investors, with real estate emerging as the top preference, accounting for a significant 40 percent of their overall assets.

According to statistics from the Dubai Land Department, Rachit Pant, CEO of Hedge & Sachs, a renowned Dubai-based investment business, by 2023, women would have collectively invested over $16 billion (AED 58.8 billion) in the UAE's real estate market. He expects this tendency to continue throughout the year, with market forecasts indicating that this figure might exceed 50% by the end of 2023, compared to 2022.

Rachit said that what's even more heartening is that estimates show women own 30% of the property in Dubai.

The UAE market had a spectacular 51 percent growth in women's investments year on year in 2022, demonstrating a strong trend towards increasing financial independence and autonomy among women in the nation.

Rachit emphasised that, in terms of overall women investments, the UAE is rapidly catching up with major global markets such as China and India. While individual investment preferences vary by country, the larger trend of women actively participating in investments is becoming more visible on a worldwide basis.

In India, for example, 65 percent of female investors prefer real estate over other assets such as gold or equities. In China, women play an important role in the consumer market, with a particular interest in luxury fashion, fitness, and numerous lifestyle industries.

According to industry statistics as of July 2023, the total amount of women's investments in the UAE has reached an amazing AED 100 billion ($27 billion). The number of female investors increased by 51% in 2022 compared to the previous year, and Rachit forecasts an even higher growth in 2023.

Several reasons have been recognised as contributing to the increase in female investment in the UAE and the Middle East as a whole. Women's increasing financial literacy, progressive government policies and initiatives, financial programmes offered by various investment firms that help diversify investment landscapes, and the emergence of female entrepreneurs and business owners in the UAE, which encourages women to invest in their businesses and explore investment avenues further, are all examples of these.

Despite these substantial advances, Rachit admits that males continue to dominate total investment volume. Nonetheless, he points out that the gender investment disparity is steadily closing. "We anticipate a continued shift towards a more balanced investment landscape in the UAE as more women actively participate in financial markets, participate in financial education programmes, and explore diversified investment options," Rachit remarked firmly.

The extraordinary spike in female investment is transforming the UAE's financial environment, marking a huge step towards gender equality in the financial sector.