Dubai’s GDP up 2.8% at Dh389b
dubai — Dubai’s gross domestic product growth expanded 2.8 per cent to Dh389.4 billion last year against Dh378.8 billion in the previous year on the back of stronger growth in key sectors, according to the Department of Economic Development’s (DED) Dubai Economic Report 2018.
However, the UAE economy as a whole achieved a lower growth of 0.8 per cent last year, says the report highlighting the importance of Dubai’s diverse production base in enabling the emirate to contain the impact of lower oil prices as well as unfavourable economic conditions elsewhere in the region.
Natalia Tamirisa, the International Monetary Fund’s mission chief for the UAE, had earlier forecast Dubai’s GDP to grow 4.2 per cent in 2019 due to government infrastructure spending ahead of Expo 2020 compared to 3.4 per cent this year.
Dubai’s Trade Openness index of 321 per cent — the value of exports, imports and re-exports attributed to GDP — showed that the emirate ranked fourth in the world and first among Gulf and Arab nations.
The emirate also ranked fourth among the world’s most visited cities in 2017, attracting 15.8 million visitors, an annual increase of 6.7 per cent. Together, the visitors spent Dh109 billion in Dubai.
Sami Al Qamzi, director-general of the DED, said economic policies being adopted by the government to stimulate diverse economic activities, increasing openness to the world and a developing network of regional and global partnerships are all contributing to accelerating investment inflows to Dubai.”
According to the report, Dubai has set a record in Islamic banking, with a total nominal value of Dh217.33 billion in sukuk listings, the highest value of such listings anywhere in the world. The transport and storage sector was the second largest contributor to Dubai’s GDP in 2017 accounting for 11.8 per cent while information and communications technology contributed 4.1 per cent.