His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, affirmed that under the leadership of President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE continues to achieve unprecedented milestones in non-oil trade.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: “A few years ago, we set an ambitious national economic target of reaching AED 4 trillion in foreign trade by 2031, which was considered a very challenging goal at the time.
“Today, figures for the first half of 2024 show that exports in just six months are equivalent to the value of exports in a full year in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign trade in these six months is approaching AED 1.4 trillion, with non-oil exports growing by 25 percent. Our target is to bring non-oil foreign trade to AED 3 trillion by the end of this year.”
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also said, “Our economic ties with various countries have strengthened, with trade with India increasing by 10 percent, with Turkey by 15 percent and with Iraq by 41 percent, making Iraq the UAE’s largest export destination, followed by India, Turkey and others.”
His Highness added, “While the global foreign trade growth rate is around 1.5 percent, our country’s foreign trade is growing by 11.2 percent annually and we continue to progress towards our goal.”
“Thanks to the unwavering support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, who has built excellent international relations with countries around the world, and the tireless efforts of thousands of teams across the public and private sectors, the flag has risen, the country and the region has prospered, and our future is brighter, higher and more promising,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid concluded.
The UAE’s non-oil exports to its top 10 trading partners increased by 28.7 percent, while trade with other countries increased by 12.6 percent. Gold, jewellery, tobacco, petroleum, aluminium, copper wire, printed matter, silver, ironworks and perfumes topped the list of the UAE’s most important export items in the first half of 2024, increasing a combined 36.8 percent compared to the same period in 2023. Other commodities increased by 1 percent.
Re-exports reached AED 345.1 billion in the first half of 2024, up 2.7% compared to the same period in 2023 and up 11.2% compared to the same period in 2022. Re-exports with major trading partners all increased, most notably Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, the United States, Kuwait and Qatar. Kazakhstan joined the list of major re-export partners, almost doubling growth due to increased re-exports of phones.
Overall, re-exports to and from the top 10 trading partners increased by 7.6 percent. Telephones and diamonds were the top re-exported items, with aircraft parts, motor vehicles and freight vehicles seeing the highest increases.
The UAE’s non-oil imports are expected to approach AED 800 billion in the first half of 2024, up 11.3% compared to the same period in 2023 and 34.6% compared to the same period in 2022. A significant portion of these imports are re-exported. Imports from the top 10 markets increased by 7.2%, accounting for more than 48.7% of total imports.
Imports from other countries, which account for 51.3% of the UAE’s imports, increased by 15.4% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.