Emirati non-oil trade grows 65% in ten years
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues to reaffirm its policy of economic diversification to avoid relying exclusively on oil revenues.
Proof of this is that in the last ten years, the UAE's non-oil trade has grown by 65%, a historic achievement.
Emirati trade in non-oil products grew by around 65% to 2.6 trillion Emirati dirhams by the end of 2023, up from 1.58 trillion dirhams in 2013.
The value of the UAE's 10-year non-oil trade amounted to more than 17.9 trillion dirhams, with around 10.3 trillion dirhams for imports, 4.99 trillion dirhams for re-exports and 2.6 trillion dirhams for direct exports, as reported by Al Ain News.
The Emirates is an important trade hub due to its excellent diplomatic relations with most of the world's countries and its strategic location, and this has made the Gulf nation's trade boom possible, along with the plans of the nation presided over by Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to invest in sectors other than oil in order to have a more diversified economy and not depend exclusively on national crude oil.
In this area, the UAE's main trading partner is China, which in 2023 held first place among the Gulf country's trading partners, followed by India, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Weight of the non-oil sector in the Emirati economy
The UAE's non-oil sector accounts for 74% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, a testament to the success of the plan set out in "We the Emirates 2031", a national plan launched in November 2022 with a strategy for the next 50 years, and "UAE Centenary 2071".
The "We the Emirates 2031" plan is an integrated programme that shapes the country's future over the next ten years and focuses on social, economic, investment and development aspects.
The strategy aims to enhance the UAE's position as an attractive and influential global partner and economic hub. It also seeks to highlight the UAE's successful economic model and the opportunities it offers to all global partners.
The UAE's economic growth has been exponential since its founding as a multi-emirate state in December 1971. The qualitative economic leap came from the UAE's oil resources, but in recent years, the state's plan has been to broaden the range of strong economic sectors in the nation to avoid overdependence on hydrocarbons, an energy source that, according to various experts, has an expiry date.
Thanks to the nation's good financial position, it has invested in the development of other sectors such as technology, leisure, culture, finance, sports, etc., which has made it possible to generate wealth through channels other than oil, establishing the Emirates as the power it is today. This path has been followed by partner countries and allies in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, which with its "Vision 2030" has also followed the same path of economic diversification.
According to data from the Emirati Ministry of Economy on non-oil trade between 2014 and 2022, during 2014 foreign trade amounted to more than 1. 605 trillion dirhams, in 2015 it exceeded 1. 556 trillion dirhams and in 2016 it was 1,564 billion dirhams, jumping in 2017 to 1.612 billion dirhams, to continue growing in 2018 to exceed 1.628 billion dirhams, while in 2019 it exceeded 1.705 billion dirhams, and in 2020 its volume reached 1.495 billion dirhams; in 2021 it surpassed the 1.9 trillion dirham mark, and in 2022 it reached some 2.286 trillion dirhams.
Finally, Emirati non-oil trade reached 2.6 trillion dirhams by the end of 2023.
The UAE ranked 11th in the world in terms of merchandise exports during 2022, with a total of 599 billion dollars and a contribution of 2.4% of world merchandise exports, according to the 'World Trade Forecasts and Statistics' report issued by the World Trade Organization in April 2023.
The organisation said the UAE ranked 12th globally in services exports during 2022, with a value of 154 billion dollars and a contribution of 2.2% of world services exports.
The report said the UAE's trade in goods surpassed the 1 trillion dollar mark (1.024 billion dollars), as well as 249 billion dollars in services, meaning that the UAE's trade transactions in goods and services with the world amounted to 1.273 trillion dollars.
The UAE ranks first in the Middle East and Africa in exports and imports of goods and services and will be among the top exporters of digital services globally during 2022.
