UAE’s non-oil trade recorded at Dhs1.403 trillion in 2020

The value of the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade was reported to be Dhs1.403 trillion in 2020, down 12.47 per cent from Dhs1.603 trillion it had recorded in 2019.

According to the data released by the Federal Center for Competitiveness and Statistics (FCSA), the UAE’s non-oil exports grew 10.1 per cent year-on-year in 2020 to Dhs254.6bn.

Its imports reached Dhs785.1 bn, accounting for 56 per cent of total merchandise trade, with re-exports comprising 26 per cent, or Dhs363.4bn, of the total trade volume in 2020.

China retained its top rank as the main trading partner of the UAE, with the bilateral trade value reaching Dhs174 bn, followed by Saudi Arabia at Dhs104 bn, India at Dhs102.5 bn.

The US was its fourth largest trading partner at Dhs80.2bn, followed by Iraq at Dhs53bn. At 36.6 per cent, these five countries account for over a third of the UAE’s overall foreign trade, as compared to 44.1 per cent in 2019.

Switzerland topped UAE’s export markets with Dhs29.2bn, receiving 11.5 per cent of the UAE’s non-oil exports, followed by Saudi Arabia at Dhs25.6bn, India at Dhs19.7bn, Turkey at Dhs18.4bn and Italy at Dhs18.2bn.

Read: UAE’s non-oil trade totals Dhs1.603 trillion in 2019

China is the UAE’s top import partner, with a total value of Dhs144.4bn of non-oil commodities, followed by the US at Dhs60.5 bn, India at Dhs60.5bn, Japan at Dhs34.7 bn and Germany at Dhs26.7 bn. These five countries account for 41.6 per cent of the UAE’s imports.

In terms of re-exports, Saudi Arabia ranked first with a total value of Dhs54.6bn, followed by Iraq at Dhs40.6bn, Oman at Dhs23.3bn, India at Dhs22.3bn, and China at Dhs19.6bn.

At the 108th meeting of the Arab League’s Economic and Social Council earlier this month, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE’s Minister of Economy, noted that in 2020, trade between Arab countries and the rest of the world amounted to around US$1.27 trillion, with the UAE accounting for 25 per cent of that amount. In H1-2021, the non-oil trade between the UAE and Arab countries grew 29 per cent to Dhs191bn, from Dhs148bn over the same period in 2020, according to state-run news agency WAM.

The emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have also previously reported their non-oil trade figures for 2020. Abu Dhabi’s non-oil foreign trade reached Dh201.2bn in 2020. Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade meanwhile was reported to be Dhs1.185 trillion in 2020, 13.5 per cent lower year-on-year. Its total trade volume also dropped to 100 million tons, from 109 million tons in 2019, although its shipments recorded a 6 per cent boost in H2 2020.