Abu Dhabi’s non-oil foreign trade hit AED 89.6 bn in 1Q 2025, marking a 25.7% y-o-y increase, according to import and export data from January, February, and March (here, here, and here) from Abu Dhabi’s statistics center. Imports for the quarter settled at AED 34 bn, while total exports — including re-exports — accounted for AED 55.6 bn.

REFRESHER- Abu Dhabi’s non-oil foreign trade grew 7.6% to AED 306 bn in 2024. Imports fell 3% y-o-y to AED 35 bn, while exports and re-exports increased 30.2% y-o-y to AED 42.8 bn, widening its trade surplus to AED 7.8 bn.

UAE ? Switzerland: Switzerland was the largest importer of non-oil goods in terms of value, amounting to AED 14.5 bn. The Swiss were followed by India with AED 6.4 bn and Saudi Arabia with AED 6.2 bn.

Export values for major commodities in 1Q: The top export during the quarter was pearls, precious stones, and precious metals, valued at AED 22.7 bn. This was followed by ordinary metals and their derivatives landing at AED 6 bn, then by plastics, rubber and its derivatives at AED 4.4 bn.

Over on the imports side: Audio and video recording equipment look the lead valued at AED 8 bn, followed by base metals at AED 7.9 bn and transport equipment at AED 5.8 bn. China was the nation’s top importer, with goods imported worth AED 4.6 bn, while KSA trickled behind at AED 3.7 bn, followed by the US at AED 3.6 bn.

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