Five million tourists in Dubai during first half

The Dubai Economic Outlook, Quarter 2 report for 2013, issued by the Secretariat General of the Dubai Economic Council (DEC), confirms the momentum gained by Dubai's economy during Q1 of 2013.

The report estimated the growth rate of real gross domestic product (GDP) to Dubai in the Q2 of 2013 by 4.7 per cent compared to the corresponding 2012 quarter. The report attributed this growth to the growth of the four sectors, namely: real estate, wholesale and retail, transportation and manufacturing.

Lower budget deficit

The public budget deficit decreased from Dh1.8 billion in 2012 to Dh1.5 billion in 2013 as a result of higher revenues by about 7.2 per cent from about Dh30.4 billion to Dh32.6 billion, increased government expenditure by about 5.8 per cent from Dh32.3 billion to Dh34.1 billion between 2012-2013. As a percentage of GDP, the budget deficit has dropped from about 0.6  per cent in 2012 to less than 0.05 per cent.

Current expenditure accounts for three-quarters of expenses

As for the economic structure of expenditures, it has been observed that about three-quarters of expenditure allocated for the current spending in 2013, while the share of development expenditure increased to about 24 per cent this year. The public revenues dominated by non-tax revenue.

Tourism sector continues to grow

The report states that the tourism sector in Dubai has continued its outstanding performance complement the Q2 of this year exceeded levels the same period of last year.

Five million tourists in Dubai during the first half of 2013

The number of guests hotel establishments and tourism in Dubai during the first half of 2013 to more than 5 million guest from various countries around the world, especially Saudi Arabia, which has increased the number of visitors to Dubai at a rate of about 32%, while the rest of the main exporters of tourists to the emirate are the UK, USA, Russia, Germany and the GCC countries, in addition to China and Iran

DTCM… engine of tourism growth

The report points out that considerable efforts made by the Department of Tourism and Commercial Marketing (DTCM) attracting tourists from different countries through the organisation of programmes and events and promotional campaigns have contributed- along with other factors such as modern infrastructure and development services- to make the emirate classified tourist interface regionally and globally.

Dubai to overcome the seasonal impact of tourism

The report confirms that the successive positive developments witnessed by Dubai's tourism sector has enabled the emirate to overcome the seasonal effect which is usually seen muted in tourism as a result of rising temperatures and a large number of travel out of the state population.

High hotel occupancy rate
The report pointed out that the hotel occupancy rate in Dubai arrived at 80 per cent during the Q2 2013 versus 76 per cent during Q2 2012.

India, China and USA, the most important trade partners of Dubai

The report stated that India is the largest trading partner of Dubai, where trade between them amounted to between Dh81 billion; China comes in second place (63 billion dirhams), then the USA in third place (45 billion dirhams). In fourth place comes the UK (30 billion dirhams).

Growth in the financial sector

The Q2 of 2013 saw a growth of deposits and loans in Dubai’s banks. The growth rate of deposit was 0.4% and for loans increased by 4.9% compared to the previous quarter. The report confirms that the increase mentioned has led to a rise in loan-to-deposit ratio, which amounted to 90% more than its counterpart with the Q1 of this year.

In this context, the report points to the good performance of the major banks as well as the dynamics of overall economic activity in the emirate in the UAE was behind the improved performance of the banking sector. The report confirms that expectations on indicators remain positive given the constant growth and low inflation rate during the first half of 2013.

The same is true on the movement of lending, which is expected to report continued growth in the coming period, especially in light of the growing levels of domestic demand and investment.

Increase in bank profits

The Q2 of 2013 saw a growth in Dubai’s bank profits in compared to the Q1 of the same year. The increase in quarterly earnings by about 16%.
Personal loans accounted for the lion's share of the total loans, followed by manufacturing, and trade

As for the distribution of loans in Dubai, the report revealed an increase in the share of personal loans from 29.9% in the Q1 of 2013 to 30.7% in the Q2 of the same year. The manufacturing sector saw a rise in its share from 4.1% to 6%. The share of the trade sector has recorded a slight increase from 14.1% at the beginning of 2013 to 14.2% by the end of June 2013.

Dubai Financial Market (DFM)

Stock markets in the UAE witnessed a remarkable state up in the indicators in the Q2 of 2013 compared with the Q1 of the same year. The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index increased significantly at the end of the Q2 2013, which amounted to about 21.5%, compared with the previous quarter, and achieved 2222.57 points at the end of June 2013 compared to 1829.24 points at the end of March 2013.

Shares of real estate and construction sector leading the market

In terms of sectoral performance, real estate and construction sector still considered the most important element in the performance of the DFM indicator.

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