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3/4/24, 5:22 PM UAE economy expected to grow by 5% this year, Minister of Economy says
The non-oil economy currently accounts for 73 per cent of the UAE’s gross domestic product,
which is a “historic first for the country”, Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq told state news
agency Wam on Wednesday.

That almost three quarters of the country’s economy, the Arab world’s second largest, is now
driven by activities other than the hydrocarbons sector, is an achievement, which “reflects the
confidence of the private sector and investors around the world in the UAE's investment
environment", Mr bin Touq said.

The Emirates' economy rebounded strongly from the slowdown caused by Covid-19, growing by
7.9 per cent in 2022, the most in 11 years, to Dh1.62 trillion ($441 billion) at constant prices. It has
maintained a robust growth momentum since.

It expanded by 3.7 per cent annually in the first half of 2023, as the
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country continued to pursue its diversification goals, Mr bin Touq
UAE's industrial sector added
$53.6bn to economy in 2023 said in October.

UAE ranks second globally for While the first-half rate of economic growth “may seem modest”
greenfield FDI in 2023 compared with last year, it was still “robust” given the global and

regional uncertainties, driven by “staggering” 5.9 per cent growth
in the country’s non-oil sector, he said at the time.

The Federal Centre for Competitiveness and Statistics has yet to release full-year GDP growth
figures.

Mr bin Touq in August said he expected the UAE's GDP to expand by 3.6 per cent in 2023.

“The private sector is a key pillar in the new economic and investment landscape,” he said on
Wednesday ahead of the three-day Investopia annual conference, taking place in Abu Dhabi from
February 28.

"It is at the heart of global changes and challenges.”

The momentum is expected to continue this year, on the back of measures adopted by the
government to improve the country’s economic resilience, amid persistently high global inflation,
monetary policy uncertainty and slowing global economic growth.

The UAE is pursuing its strategy, Operation 300bn, to position the country as an industrial centre
by 2031, increasing the industrial sector’s contribution to GDP to Dh300bn by 2031, from Dh133
billion in 2021.

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