Dubai free zone hits $190 billion as 40th anniversary caps economic transformation.
Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), Dubai’s flagship logistics and trade hub, has marked its 40th anniversary with a record-breaking $190 billion (€175 billion) in trade over the past year—a 15% year-on-year increase and its highest ever economic contribution to the emirate.
Launched in 1985 with just 19 companies, Jafza now hosts more than 11,000 businesses. Built around an integrated port and logistics ecosystem, the free zone has weathered four decades of global disruption, including regional conflicts, financial crises, and the pandemic. Its infrastructure connects companies to more than 3.5 billion consumers across sea, air and land routes.
Over the last two decades, Jafza and the adjoining Jebel Ali Port have attracted more than $30 billion (€27.6 billion) in foreign direct investment to Dubai and supported over one million jobs, according to DP World, which operates the free zone.
His Excellency Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, DP World, said: “It is fitting that Jafza has made its greatest ever contribution to trade in its 40th year. Over the past four decades, it has proven to be an anchor of resilience and now serves as a blueprint for our approach to economic zone development. Whether replicating Jafza’s success or adapting it to local needs, we see every free zone as a platform for shared growth.”
Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO & Managing Director, DP World GCC, added: “Dubai has undergone one of the most dramatic urban and trade transformations in modern history — from a modest desert town with basic infrastructure to a global metropolis that is considered one of the smartest and most future-ready cities in the world. Its population has grown from 500,000 to 3.6 million and its economy has diversified with less than 1% of its GDP coming from oil, which is now driven by tourism, real estate, trade, aviation, and finance. The Jebel Ali ecosystem has had a big role to play in that, with modern infrastructure and business-friendly policies that have created a multimodal trade platform connecting over 3.5 billion consumers.”
Jafza is now a model for DP World’s international expansion, replicated across 11 economic zones worldwide with three more in development. It accounts for nearly 75% of Dubai’s FDI in manufacturing, trade and transport, and supports sectors from electronics and automotive to food, pharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing.
Dubai’s economy has diversified dramatically, with oil now accounting for less than 1% of GDP, replaced by growth in tourism, real estate, aviation and global trade.
