UAE economy leaps 140 times

The UAE economy has leaped by nearly 140 times since the country was founded in 1971, an average of more than three times every year, the UAE minister of economy was quoted on Monday as saying.

From around Dh6.5 billion in 1971, the country’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) shot up to nearly Dh914.5 billion in 2009, Sultan bin Saeed al Mansouri told the Qatari Arabic language daily Alsharq.

“This means the UAE’s economy has increased by nearly 140 times during that period,” the minister said in an interview.

He gave no figures for 2010 but independent estimates expect it to climb to nearly Dh950 billion because of a surge in crude prices.

Mansouri said the non-oil sector expanded to around 71 per cent of the overall GDP in 2009 from nearly 63 per cent in 2008, adding that this was a result of the country’s economic diversification drive and a contraction in the oil sector last year because of a sharp decline in crude prices compared with 2008.

“This diversification policy adopted by our leadership has turned the UAE into the second largest Arab economy (after Saudi Arabia),” he said.

“The UAE is also classified as among the largest 20 exporters of goods and services in the world and the Middle East’s main commercial centre.”

Figures by the International Monetary Fund showed the UAE’s exports of goods and services stood at around $202.3 billion in 2009 and are projected to climb to nearly $220.3 billion in 2010 and $238.87 billion in 2011.

Its imports were estimated at $187.5 billion in 2009 and are forecast to rise to about $197.6 billion this year and $216.3 billion in 2011. In 2009, the UAE became the top importer in the Arab world after overtaking Saudi Arabia.