UAE Maintains Positive Economic Growth

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, said that preliminary estimates issued by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, FCSA, indicate growth in the economic performance of the UAE in general; which came as a result of growth in oil resources and rise in international oil prices and growth in non-oil sectors.

Al Mansouri also lauded the UAE’s success in economic diversification, expansion of the economic production base, and the importance of strategic initiatives and programmes aimed at increasing reliance on non-oil sectors and the sector’s contribution to the country's GDP.

The Minister of Economy emphasised the importance of ongoing economic developments in the country, making it attractive for foreign investments on a continuous basis. He also reiterated the importance of foreign trade data to the country and opening up to the world as a component of international economic relations, as it can enhances the success of economic policy and its integration with the nation’s sustainable development and economic prosperity.

According to National Accounts preliminary estimates by the FCSA for 2017, the general results of the preliminary estimates of UAE macroeconomic indicators indicated growth of GDP by 0.8 percent in real (constant) prices in 2017 compared to 2016 The data also show that GDP estimates for 2017 at real prices (base year 2010) amounted to approximately AED1422.2 billion in the UAE, compared to about AED1411.1 billion in 2016.

From an economic diversification perspective, preliminary estimates indicate that estimates of GDP at current prices of non-oil sectors amounted to approximately AED1092 million, with a growth rate of 3.2 percent (current prices) and 2.5 percent (constant prices) the end of 2017 compared to 2016.

In terms of contribution of economic sectors to the current GDP, data showed that activities related to the Extraction of Crude Oil and Natural Gas, has contributed to about 22.3 percent. Both wholesale and retail trade activities contributed to 12.3 percent and manufacturing activities amounted to approximately 4.8 percent, while construction activity contributed with 8.7 percent.

The contribution of financial services activities amounted to 9.6 percent. The public administration, defence and social security sector also showed an increasing contribution to the GDP, reaching about seven percent. In terms of the growth rate of the activities and the economic sectors, which constitute the GDP of 2017 compared to 2016, oil activities achieved a positive growth of 23.7 percent. The public administration, defence and social security sector also marked a growth of 11.4 percent.

Non-oil activities, on the other hand, showed mostly positive growth. Electricity, gas, water and waste management activities achieved the highest annual growth rate of 9.4 percent, followed by human health and social services activities by 6.3 percent. Administrative and support services increased by 5.5 percent, while manufacturing activity grew by 4.8 percent. The arts, entertainment, promotion and other services activities grew by 3.8 percent. Education activity achieved a growth rate of 2.9 percent, while growth rate in the transport and storage sector reached 2.5 percent.

In real prices, the highest growth rate was recorded by accommodation and food services activity by 8.5 percent. Electricity, gas, water and waste management activities grew by eight percent. The general government sector achieved a growth of 6.2 percent, health and social services by 4.4 percent, while the oil sector achieved negative growth (-3 percent) due to the government's policy of reducing production, as a result of the increase in global oil prices and other sectors.