UAE Non-Oil Trade Hits Historic $1 Trillion Milestone
The United Arab Emirates has achieved a historic economic milestone, with its non-oil foreign trade crossing 1 trillion dirhams ($272 billion) for the first time ever in Q1 2024.
Key Highlights
- Record Value: Non-oil trade hit 1.02 trillion dirhams in Q1 2024.
- Strong Growth: A 10% year-on-year and 13.2% quarter-on-quarter increase.
- Top Partners: China, India, and the US lead trading relationships.
- Key Commodities: Gold, diamonds, jewellery, and telephones drive volumes.
Quarterly Performance Breakdown
According to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, the record figure of 1.02 trillion dirhams was announced on Monday. The sector showed robust growth across all segments:
- Re-exports: 166 billion dirhams (up 6.9%)
- Exports: 166 billion dirhams (up 6.4%)
- Imports: 691 billion dirhams (up 11.1%)
Leading Trading Partners
China solidified its position as the UAE’s top non-oil trading partner, with bilateral exchange valued at 81 billion dirhams—a significant 24% jump from Q1 2023.
India followed with 64 billion dirhams (10% growth), while trade with the United States surged 26% to 56 billion dirhams. Turkey and Saudi Arabia rounded out the top five.
Top Commodity Groups
Precious metals and stones dominated trade, with gold, diamonds, and jewellery collectively worth 151 billion dirhams, marking a 27% increase.
Telephones were the second most valuable commodity group at 96 billion dirhams (up 28%), followed by cars and petroleum oils.
This historic achievement underscores the UAE’s successful economic diversification strategy, reducing its traditional reliance on hydrocarbon revenues and strengthening its position as a global trade and logistics hub .
