UAE – Mubasher: EmiratesNBD Research cited preliminary estimates by the Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi indicating that the capital of the UAE registered a 3.1% growth in real GDP during 2023.

The non-oil sector, which expanded by 9.1% yet marginally down from 9.2% in 2022, was the main factor behind the 3.1% growth and was offset by a weaker performance from the oil sector.

Furthermore, oil production in the UAE was flat in 2023 when compared with 2022.

Abu Dhabi’s non-oil economy showed ongoing strong performance throughout 2023, with the fourth quarter (Q4) registering non-oil growth of 10.4% on an annual basis, which resulted in a headline GDP growth figure of 4.1%.

According to the latest seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data, non-oil companies in the UAE posted a sharp uplift in new order volumes in March 2024 and the rate of expansion picked up from February's six-month. This performance led to an upturn in backlogs of work on record, alongside that seen in June 2018.

In 2023, growth sectors included construction which soared by 13.1% in 2023, transportation and storage activity which accelerated by 17.1%, in addition to financial and insurance activities which expanded 25.5%.

The report showed that the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) “revised down its growth forecast for 2024, from 5.7% previously to 4.2%, and for 2025 the forecast is for 5.2%. This will be driven by non-oil growth of 4.7% in both years, while the oil sector will expand 2.9% this year and 6.2% in 2025.”