DIFC accounts for 1.4% of UAE GDP

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), today issued its fifth annual Economic Activity Survey Report for 2011 putting the total value added (GDP equivalent) of the Centre's sub-economy at $3.13 billion, up 7 per cent from $2.92 billion in 2010.

This increases DIFC's contribution to the UAE's non-hydrocarbon GDP as estimated by the IMF to approximately 1.4 per cent.

The Report provides detailed information on DIFC's growth, sectorial contribution and level of economic performance of the DIFC sub-economy during 2011 and its contribution to the UAE's GDP.

Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of DIFC Authority, said: "Today's report highlights DIFC's advancement as a global hub of finance and business. We are confident that DIFC will continue to be a catalyst of growth for the region, by providing a platform of world-class infrastructure for financial and business institutions to extend their reach and access new economies."

The economic survey, undertaken by the DIFC Economics team, is based on international best practices in national accounting, and measures output, intermediate consumption and ultimately the gross value added produced within the DIFC district by entities registered in the Centre. Some 66.4% of DIFC's client base responded to the survey which represents an increase of 11.2 per cent in the number of reporting entities compared to last year's survey. The total number of companies based at the Center increased by 5.7 per cent in 2011.

The breakdown of DIFC's GDP by sector shows that financial activities remain the biggest contributor accounting for 70.3 per cent of total value added, while business services accounted for 28 per cent, with the rest attributed to public administration, which includes the DIFC Authority, the DFSA and the DIFC Courts.

This year's report also included data on the reported total assets of the DIFC sub-economy as of 2011 which were estimated at around $115 billion. It also places the paid-up capital of DIFC registered entities at $29.5 billion as of end of 2011.

The report's labour force survey which tracks the employment growth in DIFC as well as the quality, distribution and average pay for its diverse work force, shows that number of employees within the DIFC community grew by 14 per cent to reach 12,945 full time employees of which men represented 65.5 per cent. In 2011, 88 per cent of DIFC's international, diverse and highly skilled work force was university graduates and post-graduates. The percentage of UAE nationals working in the DIFC was a stable proportion of the total at 2.2 per cent.

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