Banking assets maintained a robust growth trajectory throughout 2025, expanding by more than AED780 billion over the year to reach approximately AED5.34 trillion by the end of December 2025, up from about AED4.56 trillion at the close of December 2024.
According to the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), gross banking assets rose by 1.7 per cent, increasing from AED5,251.9 billion at the end of November 2025 to AED5,339.9 billion by the end of December 2025.
Gross credit also recorded growth of 1.5 per cent, climbing from AED2,532.9 billion at the end of November 2025 to AED2,570.3 billion at the end of December 2025. Around two-thirds of this expansion was driven by foreign currency credit, which grew by AED25.8 billion, while the remaining growth came from an increase of AED11.6 billion in domestic credit.
The rise in domestic credit was primarily supported by a 0.6 per cent increase in lending to the private sector, contributing 0.4 percentage points to the overall growth of 0.6 per cent. This was followed by a 1.8 per cent increase in credit to Government-Related Entities (GREs) and a notable 10.9 per cent rise in credit to Other Financial Corporations (OFCs).
Banks’ deposits increased by 2.2 per cent, rising from AED3,236.6 billion at the end of November 2025 to AED3,307 billion by the end of December 2025. This growth was driven by a 1.3 per cent increase in resident deposits, which reached AED3,009.2 billion, alongside a sharp 12.2 per cent rise in non-resident deposits to AED297.8 billion.
Among resident deposits, private sector deposits grew by 2.8 per cent to AED2,249.6 billion, while GRE deposits increased by 4.8 per cent to AED296.2 billion. Deposits from OFCs also rose significantly by 12.9 per cent to AED70.0 billion. In contrast, government sector deposits declined by 10.4 per cent, standing at AED393.4 billion at the end of December 2025.
The CBUAE further reported a 2.2 per cent increase in the money supply aggregate M1, which rose from AED1,048.1 billion at the end of November 2025 to AED1,071.5 billion by the end of December 2025. This expansion was underpinned by a 1.9 per cent rise in currency in circulation outside banks and a 2.3 per cent increase in monetary deposits.
