The UAE’s GDP reached just under AED 1.7 tn in 2024, growing by 4% y-o-y, state news agency Wam reported. Non-oil GDP grew by 5% — totalling AED 1.3 tn, and accounting for 75.5% of the country’s gross domestic product — while oil-related activities made up the remaining AED 434 bn to the overall economy.

Driving the growth: The transport and storage sector was the fastest-growing contributor to GDP in 2024, recording 9.6% y-o-y growth. This was mainly driven by the performance of UAE airports, which saw the number of passengers increasing by 10% to 147.8 mn. This was followed by the building and construction sector, which grew at 8.4% due to “substantial investments in urban infrastructure.”

Financial and ins. activities also expanded by 7%, while the hotels and restaurants basket grew by 5.7%. Finally, the real estate sector grew by 4.8% during the year.

As for non-oil activity, the UAE’s trade sector contributed the most to the GDP with 16.8%, while the manufacturing sector came in second with 13.5%. The financial and ins. activities made up 13.2%, construction and building accounted for 11.7%, while real estate activities contributed 7.8% of the non-oil GDP.

This came in line with the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE)’s forecast, as well as that of Capital Intelligence Ratings. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected growth of 3.7%, while the World Bank expected the UAE’s growth to come in at 3.3% in 2024.

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