On 6 August 2026 the Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RAK Chamber) released its half-year results: Dh771.5M in new investment, 967 new establishments backed by 1,399 investors from 68 nationalities, 9,963 licence renewals, 138 new establishments in the emirate’s free zones and 70 branches of local and international companies. Expected job creation — around 2,449 positions. The figures confirm the sustained growth of the northern emirate’s investment climate.
What RAK Chamber actually released
The half-year report covers 1 January through 30 June 2026. The core signal is a rise in registrations and licence renewals at the emirate’s chamber. The primary source is the Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry itself; as Gulf News (Ashfaq Ahmed, 6 August 2026) reports, Director General Dr Rashid Khalfan Al Nuaimi commented: «The figures demonstrate the strong performance of the local economy and sustained growth across a wide range of economic sectors».
Three key blocks of numbers from the report:
Investment and new businesses. 967 new establishments joined the chamber over six months. Total new investment — Dh771.5M (about $210M). Behind those 967 businesses stand 1,399 investors from 68 nationalities — a spread that shows Ras Al Khaimah attracts a diverse international flow rather than one dominant diaspora.
Renewals and structure. 9,963 licence renewals during the half-year — the base of healthy operating companies. 138 new establishments were registered in the emirate’s free zones — this is RAKEZ (Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone) and other free zones with 100% foreign ownership and tax-optimised regimes. 70 new branches are extensions of existing local and international companies opened in Ras Al Khaimah.
Jobs. Expected job creation from the new establishments — around 2,449 positions. This is the chamber’s own estimate, about 2.5 jobs per new business — a typical level for small and medium businesses plus a handful of larger projects.
Free zone or mainland — what the new investors chose
Of the 967 new establishments, 138 (about 14%) were registered in free zones, and the remaining ~86% went to mainland through RAK Chamber. This split differs from Dubai, where the share of free-zone registrations is traditionally above 30–40%. The reason is straightforward: RAK Chamber counts mainland registrations, so the numbers reflect the chamber’s perimeter rather than the whole emirate. The actual free-zone share in RAK is higher — RAKEZ handles those separately.
For an entrepreneur choosing a jurisdiction, this split matters: RAK mainland remains a live option, not a legacy one. For most services and trading businesses today the trade-off runs between free-zone (100% ownership, corporate tax optimisation) and mainland (direct access to the local market without an agent) — a practical breakdown is in our note Free Zone or Mainland in 2026.
68 nationalities — what the investor mix says
1,399 investors from 68 nationalities is the second H1 2026 signal worth reading. The official report does not break the split down by country, but the wider RAK context for 2024–2025 is known: the top investment flows into the northern emirates come from India, Pakistan, Russia, the CIS, the UK, Germany and China. Over the past two years the share of European and Russian family businesses looking for a «second domicile» through the UAE has visibly grown.
A nationality spread this wide reduces concentration risk: the emirate’s economy does not depend on one large source of capital. For an investor it is also a signal — the market is liquid: if in two or three years you need to sell the business or find a partner, buyers are not concentrated in one geography.
How this report fits RAK’s strategy
Ras Al Khaimah follows a diversification strategy aiming to lift the emirate’s economy above Dh13B by 2028. The main drivers are industry (RAK Ceramics, construction materials, ceramics, glass), logistics (Saqr Port — the region’s largest bulk-cargo hub), tourism (Marjan Island — a resort cluster with Wynn Resorts opening in 2027), financial services and the SME segment.
The H1 2026 report shows that business registration — one of the key rails of that strategy — is working: 967 new companies in six months translates into about 5.4 registrations a day. For context: Dubai Chamber ran at around 45–60 new registrations a day in 2025, but the scale of the two emirates’ economies is not comparable. On relative growth pace RAK holds its position as the alternative for those for whom Dubai has become too expensive or too slow on timelines.
What this means for the reader planning a business in the UAE
The practical takeaway from the report — three levels.
If you are picking the emirate. Ras Al Khaimah remains a strong alternative to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 2026, especially for industrial-logistics, e-commerce and manufacturing profiles. Entry and running costs are lower, admin timelines are shorter, physical infrastructure (port + airport + industrial zones) is in place.
If you already run a company in RAK. 9,963 renewals is a survival marker on a 12+ month horizon. Companies renew rather than close — a signal that the operating environment is stable.
If you are entering the UAE for the first time. The spread across nationalities (68 countries) and the renewals activity say the market is open to newcomers. Step one is to fix on the jurisdiction and licence type; our step-by-step guide How to set up a company in the UAE step by step takes you from the first application to a ready licence.
We keep tracking quarterly and half-year reports from all UAE emirates and unpack each set of numbers in a working plane — «what it means for the business planned right now».
