Dubai’s non-oil external trade in H1 reaches AED551bn

Dubai, UAE – Dubai recorded AED551bn worth of non-oil external trade in the first half of 2020. The emirate’s ability to minimise the impact of the pandemic-induced global economic slowdown on its trading sector reflects its exceptional logistics infrastructure, which enabled it to maintain uninterrupted trade flows and a streamlined supply chain.

Imports accounted for AED320bn, exports for AED77bn, and re-exports for AED154bn. A total volume of 44mn tonnes of goods were traded through Dubai including 30mn tonnes of imports, 8mn tonnes of exports and 6mn tonnes of re-exports.

Sultan bin Sulayem, DP World Group chairman and CEO and chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, said that Dubai’s external trade sector is capable of overcoming the strong headwinds facing global trade thanks to the depth, resilience, diversity and flexibility of the Dubai economy.

“External trade is one of the key pillars of our economy. We are today reaping the fruits of the vision of our country’s founding leaders and our strong strategic planning, backed by decades of hard work in creating a robust trading and logistics infrastructure. Dubai’s external trade sector has shown a high level of preparedness in dealing with the crisis. It has provided exceptional trading facilities and services to help businesses around the world overcome the challenges of the current period,” he said.

Dubai’s external trade showed considerable growth in May and June compared to April 2020, a period in which widespread lockdowns were enforced across the globe to combat the pandemic. Dubai’s external trade grew in May compared to April by 17.2 per cent to reach AED75bn, and again grew 20 per cent in June compared to May to reach AED90bn.

The latest external trade figures for the first half of 2020 show strong integration between different modes of shipping: land, sea and air. Airborne trade accounted for AED250bn, accounting for 45 per cent of total trade. Sea trade reached AED212bn (39 per cent of total), while land trade touched AED89bn (16 per cent of total) in the first half of this year.