The UAE has reached a significant milestone, achieving an unprecedented Dh1.395 billion in non-oil foreign trade. This landmark achievement was announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed confirmed this success under the guidance of the UAE's President, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Sunday.
On social media platform X, Sheikh Mohammed shared: "A few years back, we established ambitious national economic objectives, targeting Dh4 trillion in foreign trade by 2031—a target that was considered extremely challenging at the time. As of today, the figures for the first half of 2024 indicate that our exports within just six months have matched what we previously exported in a full year before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019." He further noted that the UAE's foreign trade is approaching Dh1.4 trillion in these six months, with a 25% increase in non-oil exports, aiming to reach Dh3 trillion in non-oil foreign trade by the end of the year.
Sheikh Mohammed also highlighted the strengthening economic ties of the UAE with countries worldwide. "Our trade relations with various nations have deepened, with a 10% increase in trade with India, 15% with Turkey, and 41% with Iraq, making Iraq our leading export destination, followed by India, Turkey, and others." He added, "While the global growth rate for foreign trade is approximately 1.5%, our foreign trade has surged by 11.2% annually as we steadily progress towards our objectives."
Concluding his remarks, Sheikh Mohammed praised the support of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, "who has cultivated exceptional international relations with countries across the globe through the relentless efforts of thousands of teams from both the public and private sectors." He ended his post with, "The flag rises, the nation and the region prosper, and our future is brighter, higher, and more promising."
In terms of trade growth, the UAE’s non-oil exports to its top 10 trade partners increased by 28.7%, while trade with other nations grew by 12.6%. Key export categories in the first half of 2024, including gold, jewellery, cigarettes, oils, aluminium, copper wires, printed materials, silver, iron industries, and perfumes, collectively grew by 36.8% compared to the same period in 2023. Other goods saw a 1% increase.
Re-exports amounted to Dh345.1 billion in the first half of 2024, showing a 2.7% growth from the same period in 2023 and an 11.2% increase from 2022. Re-exports with major trading partners, especially Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, the United States, Kuwait, and Qatar, all increased. Kazakhstan emerged as a significant re-export partner, nearly doubling its growth due to heightened re-exports of telephone devices.
Overall, re-exports with the top ten trading partners grew by 7.6%. Telephones and diamonds topped the list of re-exported goods, with the most significant growth in re-exports of aircraft parts, cars, and goods transport vehicles. Non-oil imports into the UAE neared Dh800 billion in the first half of 2024, growing by 11.3% from the same period in 2023 and by 34.6% from 2022. A substantial portion of these imports are re-exported. Imports from the top ten markets grew by 7.2%, accounting for over 48.7% of total imports. Other countries, which make up 51.3% of UAE imports, saw a 15.4% increase in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
