UAE's economy grows by 36% in 10 years

Farouq Faiyad, Staff Reporter

The UAE, within 10 years, succeeded in transforming its economy towards a multi-diversified economy, away from oil and natural gas sources, based on promising and new sectors.

The latest data of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre confirmed the significant growth of economy with 36 per cent achieved by the UAE away from oil.

The country's GDP at constant prices grew in 2022, by an average of 7.9 per cent and worth Dhs1.62 trillion, compared to the previous year, in which the country achieved a GDP of Dhs1.5 trillion with an increase of 36 per cent, Dhs1.19 trillion in 2012.

In 10 years, the country’s non-oil GDP grew by 46 per cent to reach more than Dhs1.17 trillion in 2022, compared to Dhs803.6 billion in 2012.

The country's economy has also achieved growth levels that exceeded what it achieved in 2019, specifically before the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the global economy. The country's GDP at constant prices rose by 7 per cent from Dhs1.51 trillion in 2019 to Dhs1.62 trillion in 2022.

The country's non-oil output also increased by 8 per cent compared to 2019, recording Dhs1.087 trillion before the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, rising to Dhs1.174 trillion in 2022.

Back in 2012, the contribution of the oil and gas sectors and extractive activities related to the sector amounted to about 33 per cent of GDP at constant prices, with a value of Dhs389 billion.

While 67 per cent of the country’s GDP in that year came from non-oil activities, the most important of which are non-financial sectors such as agriculture, wholesale trade, manufacturing industries, electricity, construction, residence, and others, in addition to the financial and insurance sector, public administration, defense, social security, and household activities. These contributed a combined amount of Dhs803 billion of the country’s GDP.

In 2022, the contribution of the oil and gas sector to the country's economy decreased to about 27 per cent, compared to 73 per cent for non-oil activities, where the contribution of oil activities amounted to about Dhs449 billion, while non-oil activities represented more than Dhs1.17 trillion. The UAE's economy is based on 17 key activities and sectors.