DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates’ economy grew 3.4% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period the previous year, according to preliminary government estimates reported by the state news agency WAM on Monday.
The UAE’s gross domestic product reached 430 billion dirhams ($117 billion) in Q1, with non-oil GDP growing 4% year-on-year during the period, WAM reported, citing figures from the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre.
Trade activities, manufacturing, and financial and insurance services were among the biggest contributors to non-oil GDP, according to the report.
The UAE, one of the world’s biggest oil exporters, has been increasingly focused on diversifying economic sectors and revenue sources away from hydrocarbons, and is seen as the Gulf region’s tourism and commercial hub.
The International Monetary Fund said earlier this year that economic growth in the Gulf state was broad-based, and driven by solid domestic activity in sectors such as tourism, construction and financial services.
The Fund forecasts GDP growth in 2024 at 4%, higher than the 3.5% projected in its last Regional Economic Outlook report published in April.
A Reuters poll of economists in July forecast GDP growth in the UAE of 3.7% in 2024 followed by 4.2% in 2025, boosted by non-oil sectors such as tourism as well as a gradual increase in oil production.
($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam and Rachna Uppal; Writing by Rachna Uppal; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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