Saudi Arabia dominated the list of the 100 most powerful companies in the Middle East for the year 2021 with 37 companies, led by Saudi Aramco in first place, followed by the United Arab Emirates in second place with 20 companies, led by First Abu Dhabi Bank.

The banking and financial services sector is the most represented in the list with 42 banks, down from 46 banks in 2020. 5 banks also came among the top 10 on the list. The real estate, construction and industry sectors came in second place with 10 companies each, while the industry and communications sector came in third place with 9 participants.

This came within Forbes Middle East's annual list of "The 100 Most Powerful Companies in the Middle East for 2021", which includes the largest, most profitable and valuable companies listed in the financial markets in the region. To prepare the list, Forbes Middle East collected information and financial data from the consolidated financial statements of companies, financial markets in the countries of the region, and evaluating companies on the basis of sales, profits, assets and market value. It excluded public companies affiliated with other companies listed in the capital markets, as well as companies that did not disclose the audited consolidated financial statements for the year 2020, until May 3, 2021.

The repercussions of the pandemic were reflected in the profitability and values ​​of companies compared to last year. The companies included in the current year's list recorded consolidated sales of $550 billion, while consolidated net profits amounted to $91 billion, down 17.9% and 38.5%, respectively, compared to last year's list.

The market value of the companies listed for the year is about $3 trillion, an increase of 30.4 percent compared to 2020. The market value of Saudi Aramco is about $1.9 trillion, which constitutes more than 60% of the total list.

The combined value of assets rose 2.9 percent to $3.6 trillion. In general, the market value of about 93% of companies increased compared to 2020, and 62% of companies were able to increase the value of their assets. Despite last year's challenges faced by companies around the world, the year's list included 8 newcomers.

Of the 100 companies ranked in the Forbes Middle East list, 37 companies appeared in the Forbes list of the most powerful public companies (Global 2000) for the year 2021. Aramco ranked fifth on the list, and also retained its title as the largest oil company in the world and the most valuable company in the Middle East.