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The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is the global body for the accountancy profession, uniting more than 180 member organizations to drive integrity, transparency, and consistency worldwide. Its 2025 MENA Insights Snapshot benchmarks adoption of international standards across the region. Between 2019-2024, the MENA region recorded a 36% rise in IFAC membership and notable progress in adopting IFRS, ISAs, the Code of Ethics, and IPSAS. Key enablers to this have been government support, regulatory reform, and Arabic/French translations of standards-while gaps remain in areas such as quality assurance and public sector reporting.
2025 MENA Insights Snapshot
IFAC has released the 2025 MENA Insights Snapshot, launched at IFAC Connect MENA 2025 in Riyadh with Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants. (SOCPA). The report shows rapid adoption of IFRS, ISAs, the Code of Ethics, and IPSAS across the Middle East & North Africa. While Saudi Arabia leads as the only country to have adopted all seven baselines, the snapshot also underlines opportunities to strengthen regulatory oversight, technical capacity, and implementation. IFAC will continue working with MENA regulators and PAOs to turn adoption into impactful practice serving the public interest.
For corporates in the UAE and wider MENA, this underscores the need to align financial reporting and audit practices with international standards to ensure transparency, compliance, and global investor confidence. As implementation moves from adoption to practice, expert guidance in IFRS preparation and audit becomes essential.
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