AED 430 billion is the country’s GDP during the first quarter of 2024, with a growth of 3.4%

Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said that the initial estimates of the UAE’s gross domestic product during the first quarter of 2024, issued by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, confirm the strength and durability of the pillars of the national economy, and its ability to achieve sustainable growth. They also reflect the country’s commitment to enhancing economic diversification and focusing more broadly on knowledge economy sectors.

Al Marri stressed that the country’s real GDP reached AED 430 billion during the first quarter of this year, recording a remarkable growth of 3.4% compared to the same period in 2023, while the non-oil GDP achieved a growth of 4% during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year.

Al Marri added that the UAE, under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, has adopted the construction of an innovative economic model that serves its future vision, and effective national economic strategies that focus on enhancing the approach of openness and partnerships, expanding areas of economic diversification, and supporting the transition towards a new economic model based on diversity and innovation. He pointed out that the positive results achieved by the national economy enhance the achievement of the economic targets of the “We the Emirates 2031” vision, including increasing the country’s gross domestic product to 3 trillion dirhams by the next decade.

For her part, Hanan Mansour Ahli, Director of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center, said that what the financial and economic data and indicators confirmed regarding the growth of the country’s gross domestic product during the first quarter of 2024 reflects the flexibility of the country’s vital economic sectors, and translates the tireless work to implement the directives of the wise leadership to enhance sustainable economic diversification and reduce dependence on oil, and enhance investments and attract capital and innovative and emerging projects to the country.

Ahli added that the UAE’s advanced positions in many global competitiveness indicators related to the economy were achieved thanks to the stability of the financial system, the strength of the national economy, the efficiency of the approach and effectiveness of the economic policies implemented in the country, and its ability to adapt to changes and face regional and global challenges.

According to estimates issued by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center, financial and insurance activities topped the list of non-oil economic activities with the fastest growth in the country’s GDP, with a growth rate of 7.9%, as a result of the significant increase in the volume of local credit to the private sector, which achieved a growth of 6%, which was positively reflected in the recovery of non-oil economic activities. This was followed in second place by transportation and storage activities, which recorded a growth of 7.3%, driven by the significant increase in the number of passengers received by the country’s airports during the first three months of this year, amounting to 36.5 million passengers, achieving a growth of 14.7% compared to the same period last year.

The country’s ports also continued their outstanding performance during the same period, as DP World achieved a 3.7% growth in the number of containers handled during this period, while Abu Dhabi Ports achieved a 36% growth in the volume of cargo handled on an annual basis.

Construction activities ranked third, recording a growth of 6.2%, coinciding with the UAE government launching several development projects at the beginning of 2024, witnessing a significant increase of AED 4.8 billion in the size of the government’s general capital expenditures compared to the first quarter of 2023.

Restaurants and hotels activities came in fourth place, recording a growth of 4.6% during the first three months of 2024, compared to the same period in the previous year. The UAE led the global tourism scene, witnessing a large influx of tourists from all countries of the world, as the Emirate of Dubai received 5.18 million international visitors, an increase of 11% compared to the same period in 2023, while the Emirate of Abu Dhabi continued its distinguished performance in tourism indicators such as average hotel occupancy and hotel room revenue.

On the other hand, trade activity topped the rest of the activities that contributed the most to the non-oil GDP by 16.1%, followed by manufacturing activities by 14.6%, while financial and insurance activities ranked third by 13.4%, while construction and building activities contributed by 11.8%, followed by real estate activities by 7.1%.