UAE GDP grew to 7.6% in 2022
2023.03.02 12:07
UAE GDP grew to 7.6% in 2022
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – A senior official said on Thursday that the economy of the United Arab Emirates grew by 7.6% in the past year. This was about twice as much as the increase in gross domestic product (GDP) that the Gulf state experienced in 2021 as it rapidly recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even though higher energy costs helped oil exporters in the Gulf region grow their economies last year, a slowdown is expected this year due to a more uncertain outlook for oil prices and a challenging global macroeconomic environment.
By 2031, the United Arab Emirates wants to double the size of its economy and move away from hydrocarbons.
In an interview conducted on the sidelines of the Investopia conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE minister of economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri stated to Reuters, “In order to do that, we need 7% GDP growth every year.”
“This will be incorporated into all of our strategies: the effects of trade agreements and trade openness, as well as recent investments in green hydrogen and the energy transition,” he said.
In 2022, the UAE’s foreign trade reached 2.2 trillion dirhams ($599 billion), an increase of 17% year over year. The UAE has also signed bilateral trade agreements with India, Israel, and Indonesia, among other global partners. Various parties are participating in discussions.
At the end of the year, the UN’s most important climate conference, COP 28, will also be held in the UAE.
Al Marri stated, “The UAE’s strategy is an agile strategy… we are going to see challenges enter the economy faster and faster.”
“And we need to find solutions outside of government, in the private sector, where there are many solutions to these kinds of problems.”
He went on to say that the reopening of the Chinese economy could have a “big role” to play in lowering inflation all over the world, particularly for goods and services from China, one of the UAE’s most important trading partners.
