Russian Telecom Gains UAE License
The UAE might be increasingly pivoting away from the US and EU and toward Russia and China.
The United Arab Emirates
Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about The UAE economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of the country's best banks and safest banks are also available.
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Gross Domestic Product - GDP
USD 426.6 billion (2018, estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
Intl$ 723.7 billion (2018, estimate)
Real GDP growth
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* |
| 4.4% | 5.1% | 3% | 0.8% | 1.7% |
*Estimate
GDP per capita - current prices
USD 40,711.5 (2018, estimate)
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 0.7%
- industry: 46.8%
- services: 52.5%
(2018 estimate)
Inflation
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* | 2019* |
| 4.1% | 1.6% | 2.0% | 3.1% | -1.5% |
*Estimate
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* | 2019* |
| 18.7% | 20.2% | 20% | 19.1% | 20.1% |
*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| -3.4% | -2% | -1.4% | 1.2% | -1.6% |
*Estimate
Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: AA
Moody's: Aa2
Standard & Poor's / Moody's (Updated January 2017)
Source
Market value of publicly traded shares
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 221.4 billion | USD 239.4 billion | USD 235.5 billion |
Largest companies
First Abu Dhabi Bank, Etisalat, Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emaar Properties, DP World, Dubai Islamic Bank, Mashreq Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Source
Source
Current account balance by percentage of GDP
9.1% (2018 estimate)
Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
93.9% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export
1.77% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export
1.23% (2018)
Export commodities
Crude oil 45%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates (2012 estimate)
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Import commodities
Machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food
Exports - major partners
India 10.1%, Iran 9.9%, Japan 9.3%, China 5.4%, Oman 5%, Switzerland 4.4%, South Korea 4.1% (2017)
Imports - major partners
China 8.5%, US 6.8%, India 6.6% (2017)
FDI inflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 9,605 million | USD 10,354 million | USD 10,385 million |
FDI outflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 15,711 million | USD 14,060 million | USD 15,079 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 460 million | USD -1,131 million | USD 162 million | USD 5183.1 million |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
Emirates Telecommunications Corp, Itissalat Al Maghrib SA, Morocco, USD 5.7 billion
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
N/A
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking: 16 out of 190 countries (2017)
Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 17 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 3 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 1 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 10 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 48 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 13 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 30 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 92 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 9 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 80 out of 190 countries
Source
Global competitiveness ranking
25 out of 141 countries
(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom
Ranking: 9 / Score: 77.6 (Mostly free) (2019)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
Source
Source
Languages
Arabic (official), English, Hindi, Malayam, Urdu, Pashto, Tagalog, Persian
Religions
Muslim (official) 76%, Christian 9%, other (primarily Hindu and Buddhist, less than 5% of the population consists of Parsi, Baha'i, Druze, Sikh, Ahmadi, Ismaili, Dawoodi Bohra Muslim, and Jewish) 15%
(2005 est.)
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 |
| 1.84 million | 3 million | 8.26 million | 9.58 million | 11.08 million |
*Estimate
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
| 73.5% | 80.7% | 80.2% | 86.5% |
Literacy
Total population: 93.8%
Male: 93.1%
Female: 95.8% (2015 est.)
(age 15 and over can read and write)
Freedom House rating
Political Rights: 7
Civil Liberties: 6 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed 24.3% Mobile 208.5% (2019)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)