Abu Dhabi GDP reached Dh911.6bn in 2012

Abu Dhabi’s GDP at current prices reached a record Dh911.59 billion in 2012, up from Dh846.68 billion in 2011, marking an annual growth of 7.7 per cent, according to a report released by Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi (SCAD).

The preliminary data, announced by the centre in a press release today, also indicate a rise in the annual growth rate of non-oil sectors to 9.6 per cent, surpassing all earlier forecasts and estimates in this regard. These results underline the robustness, stability and competitive advantage of the Emirate’s economy, boosting its appeal to local and foreign investors.

The detailed figures point to a significant growth in all activities and oil and non-oil sectors as the growth in the emirate’s 2012 GDP at current prices achieved a net gain of Dh64.9 billion, surpassing all forecasts and estimates. The high flexibility of Abu Dhabi economy combined with the huge financial surpluses, strong growth in non-oil sectors, high oil prices, along with several other significant factors have all contributed to the stability and sustained growth of the local economy.

The GDP time series indicates that the Abu Dhabi GDP at current prices has doubled 2.4 times from 2005 to 2012, increasing form Dh383.430 billion to Dh911.591 billion during this period. The size of non-oil activities and sectors also doubled 2.4 times over the same period, form Dh167.975 billion in 2005 to Dh396.744 billion in 2012 at current prices, making these sectors a key driving force for the Emirate’s economy.

GDP at constant prices:

As the estimates announced by SCAD reveal, the non-oil activities and sectors contributed about 43.5 per cent of the Emirate’s GDP at current prices in 2012, and 48 per cent of the Emirate’s GDP at constant prices for the same year. The non-oil activities achieved high growth rates of about 9.6 per cent at current prices and 7.7 per cent at constant prices over the past year.

There has been an upward trend in non-oil activities over the course of the past few years, with the non-oil GDP at constant prices growing from Dh200.209 billion in 2005 to Dh325.433 billion in 2012.

The remarkable progress made by the non-oil activities and sectors reflects the extensive efforts excreted by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to diversify the economic base during its development process in the last decade. As depicted by the above chart, the non-oil sectors have emerged as an important part of the process of economic development, making up a significant component in the structure of the GDP.

The private sector has been comparably successful, gaining numerous competitive advantages in the fields of production and exports. This would certainly allow it to play a more effective role in facing up to economic uncertainties lying ahead, both regionally and internationally, hence the concern to support the private sector in the economic diversification process through continuing to create the investment climate conducive to a stronger role of the private sector in the economic development process.

Diversification of the economy:

A thorough review of the economy of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi will confirm that it has made vast strides and achieved a high level of development and diversity in a short span of time, making continuous gains under a wise management that learned from past experience in its endeavor to take best advantage of available opportunities. This is reflected in the fast-paced economic progress the Emirate has experienced over the past years, in the course of which major projects were undertaken, translating a practical vision and an insightful outlook on the future. This impressive growth has enhanced the attractiveness of the national economy to investors worldwide and established the Emirate as a hub for concluding major business deals.

In recent years Abu Dhabi economy has advanced in leaps and bounds towards the establishment of a solid infrastructure, founded on economic diversity and comprehensive development. It has become the most dynamic economy in the region and the second largest economy in the Arab world.

Despite the importance of oil to the economy of Abu Dhabi, the Emirate pursues an ambitious strategy that seeks to expand and diversify the economy in order to fortify it against volatile oil prices resulting from regional and international developments, SCAD remarked.

In this regard, it can be seen from the figures released by SCAD that oil accounted for 56.5 per cent of the Abu Dhabi’s GDP at current prices and only for 52 per cent of the GDP at constant prices in 2012 despite the considerable rise in oil prices during the past years. This confirms that the Emirate’s plans to expand the economic base and diversify the sources of income are progressing successfully.

Positive growth in all activities in 2012:

SCAD’s recently released preliminary data on the GDP of Abu Dhabi Emirate indicate a positive growth at varying degrees in all economic activities during 2012, most notably the "Real estate" and “Education" with both growing by a significant 15 per cent.

The "Administrative and support services" also recorded a high annual growth rate of 14.9 per cent, while "Professional, scientific and technical" activities grew by 14.8 per cent, "Wholesale and retail trade" by 14.5 per cent, "Transport and storage" by 13.4 per cent, and "Accommodation and food services" by 11.5 per cent. The "Manufacturing" activity achieved a record growth rate of 11.2 per cent, "Human health and social work" grew by 10.9 per cent, the "Electricity, gas, and water" by10.1 per cent, while all other non-oil activities and sectors recorded positive growth rates of more than 2.5 per cent.

The economic performance in the course of the past years tells the success story of Abu Dhabi in harnessing natural resources to serve a sustainable development process, in order to ensure that the people enjoy one of the highest living standards in the world.

The per capita GDP at current prices has increased proportionally with these developments the emirate’s GDP.

The impressive economic growth witnessed by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in recent years has been characterized by the rapid growth of the non-oil economy, meaning the rate of reduction in dependence on oil in the economy was the fastest in the region.

The key features of the Abu Dhabi development programmes are increasing the effectiveness of economic performance through the optimal utilization of the financial resources available to achieve structural balance and diversity in the local economy, increasing production, the development of services and their quality, improving performance in legal and executive bodies controlling the economy to support openness and transparency, encouraging the private sector, enabling it to participate in all economic activities, and the encouraging partnerships between the local and foreign private sectors.

Moreover, the plans recently adopted by Abu Dhabi Emirate, cater to an increasing role for local and foreign investment in future development in projects of various sizes and types

With respect to the existing business environment, there are several factors contributing to a positive environment that effectively contributes to building a wide and diverse economic base

SCAD stressed the need to treat the 2012 data released in this report as preliminary data, adding that more accurate estimate will be made in Q4 of the current year, following the analysis of the results of the economic surveys presently in progress, given the significance of these results in assessing the performance of the economy. SCAD sees a strong outlook for further growth as well as economic and financial stability in the Emirate.

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