UAE Non-Oil Exports Hit $35b in Nine Months

The UAE’s non-oil exports during the first nine months of 2016 rose to Dh128.7 billion ($35 billion), up 5.6% over Dh121.8 billion the previous year.

The value of national non-oil commodity exports increased by around Dh6.9 billion during the nine-month period, said the report, citing data from Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, state news agency WAM reported.

The total value of the UAE’s foreign trade for first nine months surged 2.8% to hit Dh813.7 billion, compared to Dh791.6 billion for the same period in 2015, it added.

According to FCSA, the imports represented a large percentage of the country’s non-oil trade with the outside world, with the data indicating that its value reached Dh520.9 billion in the first nine months  compared to Dh503.6 billion during the same period in 2015.

As for the total size of commercial trade till September 2016, the data states that Asian non-Arab countries took first place in terms of the value of commercial trade, totaling Dh328.7 billion, or 40.4% of the total of the value of the country’s external trade.

The total trade value with (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council countries surged to Dh73.4 billion, up 9% over the country’s total foreign trade, compared to Dh79.1 billion during the same period of 2015, it added.

Meanwhile, more than half of the respondents in the UAE are optimistic about the country’s economy improving, bolstered by a predicted increase in the number of available jobs in the coming months, the latest results from the Middle East consumer confidence index survey by Bayt.com and YouGov have shown.

The results showed that 58% of UAE respondents said they are optimistic about the country’s economy improving within the next six months, compared to only 9% who believe the opposite. In addition, 16% of respondents expect the economy to remain the same.