Economy of the United Arab Emirates

Economy of the United Arab Emirates
Dubai, the financial center of the United Arab Emirates
CurrencyEmirati dirham (AED, د.إ)
US$1 = 3.6725 AED
Calendar year
Trade organisations
OPEC, WTO, GCC, BRICS
Country group
Statistics
PopulationNeutral increase 9,441,129 (2022)[4]
GDP
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • Increase 7.51% (2022)[5]
  • Decrease 3.62% (2023e)[5]
  • Increase 4.01% (2024f)[5]
GDP per capita
  • Increase $49,560 (nominal; 2024 est.)[5]
  • Increase $77,251 (PPP; 2024 est.)[5]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
Positive decrease 1.62% (2023 est.)[5]
Population below poverty line
N/A
26.0 low (2018)[7]
Labour force
  • Increase 6,668,172 (2023)[9]
  • 78.3% employment rate (2019)[10]
  • expatriates account for about 85% of the workforce[6]
Labour force by occupation
UnemploymentNegative increase 3.36% (2021)[11]
Main industries
External
ExportsIncrease $306.41 billion (2020 est.)[6]
Export goods
Crude oil, refined petroleum, gold, reexports, telecommunications equipment, diamonds, petroleum gas, jewellery, aluminium (2021)[12]
Main export partners
ImportsIncrease $229.2 billion (2017 est.)[6]
Import goods
Gold, food, machinery, transport vehicles and parts, refined petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, jewellery, refined copper (2021)[12]
Main import partners
FDI stock
  • Decrease $129.9 billion (2017 est.)[6]
  • Increase Abroad: $124.4 billion (2017 est.)[6]
Increase $26.47 billion (2017 est.)[6]
Negative increase $237.6 billion (2017 est.)[6]
Public finances
Positive decrease 38.33% of GDP (2020 est.)[6]
−0.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)[6]
Revenues15.79 billion (2021 est.)[6]
Expenses16.6 billion (2021 est.)[6][note 1]
Standard & Poor's: AA[14]
Outlook: Stable
Moody's: Aa2
Outlook: Stable
Fitch: AA
Outlook: Stable
Increase $95.37 billion (2017 est.)[6]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.


The United Arab Emirates is a high-income developing market economy. The UAE's economy is the 4th largest in the Middle East (after Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel), with a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$415 billion (AED 1.83 trillion) in 2021-2023.[5]

The UAE economy is heavily reliant on revenues from petroleum and natural gas, especially in Abu Dhabi. In 2009, more than 85% of the UAE's economy was based on the oil exports.[15][16] In 2011, oil exports accounted for 77% of the UAE's state budget.[17] In recent years, there has been some economic diversification,[18] particularly in Dubai.[19] Abu Dhabi and other UAE emirates have remained relatively conservative in their approach to diversification. Dubai has far smaller oil reserves than its counterparts.[20]

Tourism is one of the biggest non-oil sources of revenue in the UAE. A massive construction boom, an expanding manufacturing base, and a thriving services sector are helping the country to diversify its economy. Nationwide, there is currently US $350 billion worth of active construction projects.[21]

The UAE is a member of the World Trade Organization and OPEC.

  1. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database Groups and Aggregates Information". International Monetary Fund.
  2. ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. ^ "united-arab-emirates". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
  4. ^ "Population, total". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: October 2024". imf.org. International Monetary Fund.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "The World Factbook". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  7. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate) – United Arab Emirates". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Labor force, total - United Arab Emirates". data.worldbank.org.
  10. ^ "Employment to population ratio, 15+, total (%) (national estimate)". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (national estimate)". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  12. ^ a b c "Export Partners of United Arab Emirates". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Import Partners of United Arab Emirates". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Sovereigns rating list". Standard & Poor's. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  15. ^ "The World Factbook". CIA. 12 January 2022. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  16. ^ "WTO Trade Statistic 2009". Stat.wto.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  17. ^ "Economic diversification in the GCC countries" (PDF). January 2013. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  18. ^ Kader, Binsal Abdul (20 April 2011). "Diversification raises non-oil share of UAE's GDP to 71%". Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Dubai Model of Economic Diversification and Development" (PDF).
  20. ^ "United Arab Emirates profile". BBC News. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  21. ^ 3 Archived 2009-06-04 at the Wayback Machine


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