Source
Central bank

Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates

International Reserves

USD 99.5 billion (2018)

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)

GDP per capita - PPP

Intl$ 69,381.7 (2018, estimate)

GDP (PPP) - share of world total

0.7% (2019)

 
 
Source
GDP - composition by sector
  • agriculture: 0.7% 
  • industry: 46.8% 
  • services: 52.5%

(2018 estimate)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)

N/A

 

Inflation
2015 2016 2017* 2018* 2019*
4.1% 1.6% 2.0% 3.1% -1.5%

*Estimate

Unemployment rate

N/A

Household saving rates

N/A

 

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)

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
Current account balance

USD 37.8 billion (2018 estimate)

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)

Total exports

USD 388.7 billion (2018 estimate)

Export commodities

Crude oil 45%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates (2012 estimate)

Total imports

USD 307.7 billion (2018 estimate)

 
 
Source
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

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
Time zone

UTC+4

Total area

83,600 sq km

Capital

Abu Dhabi

Currency

Emirati dirhams (AED) 

Government type

Federation of monarchies

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  

 
 
Source
Urban population as % of total population
1960 1980 2000 2020
73.5% 80.7% 80.2% 86.5%
Population median age

37.2 years (2018 estimate)

Population growth rate

1.44% (2018 estimate)

Life expectancy

78.7 years (2018 estimate)

Literacy

Total population: 93.8%
Male: 93.1%
Female: 95.8% (2015 est.)

(age 15 and over can read and write)

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day

N/A

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)

N/A

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)

Internet users as % of total population

98.45% (2018)

Mercer Cost of living index

Dubai: 21st 
Abu Dhabi: 33rd

(2019)

CO2 emissions

22.94 metric tons per capita (2014)

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