Dubai economy grows 2.1% in H1 2019

Dubai's economy grew 2.1 percent YoY in H1-2019, with the emirate's GDP reaching AED208.2 billion at constant prices in the first six months of 2019, according to data published by the Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC).

Arif Al Muhairi, Executive Director of the DSC, said that the flexibility of Dubai’s economy and its business structure helped the emirate maintain its economic growth, despite the slowdown of the regional and global economy.

Al Muhairi said that the trade sector posted a real growth of 3.3% backed by higher external trade, and higher re-exports which grew by 3 percent to reach AED210 billion in the first half of 2019, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The wholesale and retail sector, which contributes 25.5 percent to Dubai’s GDP, grew 3.3 percent YoY, while external trade grew by 17.7 percent to AED76 billion.

The transport and storage sector grew by 6.2 percent. The sector plays a vital role in Dubai’s economy since it is highly related to all other economic sectors.

Activity in the hospitality and restaurant sector, which contributed 5.1 percent to GDP, grew 2.7 percent. Total visitors to Dubai in the first half of 2019 reached 8.4 million, a 3.2 percent growth compared to the same period in 2018, according to data from the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

Manufacturing activity, which contributed 9.5% to Dubai’s GDP, grew by 0.3 percent in the first half of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018.

Real estate activity also grew by 2.1 percent in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 and contributed nearly 7.4 percent to the total GDP.

Adding to that, mining, construction, professional activities, administrative services, public administration, education, health, arts, entertainment, and other service activities and household activities grew 2 percent YoY, with a combined contribution of 23 percent to Dubai’s GDP.

Meanwhile, agriculture, electricity, gas, water, waste management, information and communication activities, as well as financial and insurance activity, declined by 1.4 percent. YoY. Al Muhairi said that these sectors contributed 17 percent to the total GDP. The decline had a slight impact on overall growth.