The UAE reached a significant achievement by reaching a record high of Dh1.395 trillion in non-oil foreign trade. The statement was issued by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who serves as Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and as Ruler of Dubai.
On Sunday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the country, acknowledged the success under his leadership.
In a latest message on X, the leader mentioned that several years back, they established ambitious economic objectives for the country, with a target of achieving Dh4 trillion in foreign trade by 2031. This goal was considered very difficult to attain back then. The data for the first half of 2024 reveals that our exports in six months now match our previous annual exports before the 2019 Covid-19 pandemic.
Our international trade is approaching Dh1.4 trillion during these six months, showing a 25 per cent increase in non-oil exports. Our goal is to reach a non-oil foreign trade of Dh 3 trillion by the conclusion of this year.
Sheikh Mohammed also emphasized the UAE’s economic ties with countries worldwide. “Our economic ties with different nations have grown stronger, with a 10 per cent surge in trade with India, a 15 per cent rise with Turkey, and a significant 41 per cent increase with Iraq, positioning Iraq as the primary market for UAE exports, followed by India, Turkey, and other countries.”
He noted that despite the global growth rate for foreign trade being about 1.5 percent, our foreign trade has been increasing by 11.2 percent each year as we strive to achieve our objectives.
The Leader praised Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s support in building strong global relations through the hard work of teams from public and private sectors.
Increase in trade
Non-oil exports from the UAE to its top 10 trading partners increased by 28.7 per cent, whereas all other countries experienced a 12.6 percent growth in trade. In the first half of 2024, gold, jewellery, cigarettes, oils, aluminium, copper wires, printed materials, silver, iron industries, and perfumes were the top export categories in the UAE, showing a collective growth of 36.8 percent from the previous year. There was a 1 percent increase in the growth of additional items.
During the first half of 2024, re-exports rose to Dh345.1 billion, marking a 2.7 percent increase from 2023 and an 11.2 percent increase from 2022. Exports to major trading partners all increased, especially Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, the United States, Kuwait, and Qatar. Kazakhstan has become one of the top re-export partners by nearly doubling its growth through the increased re-exports of telephone devices.
In total, there was a 7.6 per cent increase in re-exports with the top ten trading partners. The top re-exported goods included telephones and diamonds, with the most notable increase observed in the re-export of aircraft parts, cars, and goods transport vehicles.
Non-oil imports in the UAE reached nearly Dh800 billion in the first half of 2024, marking an 11.3 per cent increase from the same period in 2023 and a 34.6 per cent rise from the same period in 2022.
A large percentage of these imports are subsequently exported. Imports from the top ten markets increased by 7.2 percent, making up more than 48.7 percent of all imports.
In the first half of 2024, the UAE saw a 15.4% increase in imports from other countries, which make up 51.3% of the total.
