Banking assets in the UAE continued to post strong growth in 2025, rising by more than $212 billion over the year to reach approximately $1.45 trillion at the end of December, up from about $1.24 trillion a year earlier.

According to the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), gross banking assets increased by 1.7% month on month, climbing from $1.43 trillion at the end of November to $1.45 trillion by the end of December.

Gross credit rose by 1.5% over the same period, increasing from $690 billion to $700 billion. Around two-thirds of the growth was driven by foreign currency credit, which expanded by $7.0 billion, while the remainder came from a $3.2 billion increase in domestic credit.

Domestic credit growth was supported by a 0.6% rise in lending to the private sector, contributing 0.4 percentage points to overall growth, alongside a 1.8% increase in credit to government-related entities (GREs). Credit to other financial corporations (OFCs) recorded a sharper increase of 10.9%.

Banks’ deposits rose by 2.2% month on month, increasing from $882 billion at the end of November to $901 billion by the end of December. This was driven by a 1.3% increase in resident deposits to $820 billion and a 12.2% rise in non-resident deposits to $81 billion.

Within resident deposits, private sector deposits grew by 2.8% to $613 billion, while GRE deposits increased by 4.8% to $81 billion. OFC deposits rose by 12.9% to $19 billion. In contrast, government sector deposits declined by 10.4% to $107 billion.

The CBUAE also reported a 2.2% increase in the money supply aggregate M1, which rose from $285 billion at the end of November to $292 billion by the end of December, supported by higher currency in circulation and growth in monetary deposits.

Money supply aggregate M2 increased by 3.2% to $750 billion, driven largely by a $16.9 billion rise in quasi-monetary deposits. Corporate sector deposits made the largest contribution to monthly M2 growth, rising by 3.8% and accounting for nearly two-thirds of the expansion.

Meanwhile, M3 rose by 1.2% to $887 billion, reflecting the increase in M2.

The monetary base expanded by 5.4% month on month, rising from $231 billion to $244 billion. The increase was driven primarily by growth in currency issued and a sharp rise in banks’ and other financial corporations’ current accounts and overnight deposits at the central bank, which offset a decline in reserve accounts. Monetary bills and Islamic certificates of deposit remained broadly unchanged.