Who buys property in Dubai

Summary of open reports for 2025–2026: buyer nationalities and their shares

International buyers account for more than half of all deals in the Dubai property market. According to industry reviews in 2026, the share of foreign buyers exceeded 50% of all transactions.

The primary source of transaction data is the Dubai Land Department (DLD) registry; brokerage and analytics reports use their own samples, so the country ranking differs between reports.

Top buyer markets

1. India

≈20.6%

Share of international buyers in early 2026 (Khaleej Times). Indian buyers remain consistently in the top three by number of deals.

1–2. United Kingdom

≈17%

Share of foreign purchases in 2025 (Angel in Dubai). In several 2026 reports British buyers take first place outright.

3. Egypt

Third–fourth place in early 2026 reports (Khaleej Times, dubai-build). Demand focuses on affordable resale units and studios.

4. Australia

Fourth country by number of foreign buyers in the first half of 2026 (dubai-build).

Also in the top ten

Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United States and Canada appear regularly in the top ten buyer nationalities for Dubai property.

Chinese buyers are more visible in the off-plan and prime segments than by total deal count.

Summary by report

Source	Who leads
Khaleej Times (early 2026)	India first (≈20.6%), then the UK and Egypt
Gulf News (2026)	The UK first, ahead of India and Australia
dubai-build.com (H1 2026)	The UK, India, Australia, Egypt
Angel in Dubai (2025 full year)	The UK ≈17% of foreign purchases
Market review (2026)	Foreign buyers over half of all deals; breakdown: India, the UK, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia

Why the numbers differ

Country rankings vary between reports — and that is normal:

some count the number of deals, others the total value;
periods differ: a month, a quarter, half a year, a year;
some include off-plan purchases and non-freehold zones, others exclude them;
brokerage reports reflect their own client base, not the whole market.

What it means for a buyer

Demand is driven mainly by buyers from India, the UK, Egypt and Australia — an English-speaking audience — so units in popular areas see stronger competition and shorter time to market.

Check prices by area and project to gauge competition in a specific location: Dubai areas · projects.

Country guides

Sources

This summary is compiled from open publications of 2025–2026: Khaleej Times, Gulf News, dubai-build.com, Angel in Dubai and Dubai market reviews. The primary source of transaction data is the Dubai Land Department (DLD).

We do not publish our own share estimates and quote figures as they appear in the sources.