Dubai Slower in 2017

Dubai’s economy registered slower growth in 2017, according to official figures, coming in below the government’s official forecast. The emirate’s GDP grew 2.6% to 389 billion dirhams ($105.9 billion) in 2017, according to data released on Saturday by the Dubai Statistics Center, compared with 2.85% the previous year, Reuters reported. The Dubai Economic Department last year forecast growth of 3.2% in 2017, followed by 3.5% in 2018. Wholesale and retail trade—accounting for 26.6% of the emirate’s real GDP—grew by just 0.9% during the year, even as total imports and re-exports grew by 2.2% during 2017. Growth in total imports and re-exports was attributed to a growth in industrial inputs and capital goods, which contributed to the growth of foreign trade by 1.8% and 1.6% respectively, according to the DSC. Transportation and real estate were among the fastest growing sectors of the economy, improving by 7.3% and 4.5% respectively during 2017. The construction sector meanwhile grew by 3.5% during the year. The IMF last week estimated that the UAE’s economy as a whole grew just 0.5% in 2017.