The United Arab Emirates (UAE’s) real GDP growth in 2021 was 3.9 percent, data showed. The UAE’s economic growth is expected to have doubled in 2022, the country’s central bank said in a report on April 10, 2023. “The UAE’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to have grown by nearly 7.6 percent in 2022, supported by significant activity across all sectors, and is among the highest globally,” the regulator said in its 2022 Annual Report. The UAE’s real GDP growth in 2021 was 3.9 percent, data showed.
This happened even as advanced economies experienced a decline in economic activity in the past year. “Advanced economies experienced a broad-based decline in economic activity during 2022, with growth dropping to 2.7 percent in 2022 from 5.4 percent in 2021, reflecting tighter monetary stances,” CBUAE said, warning that global growth is projected to bottom out at 1.2 percent for the year.
The GCC region overall, too, fared better than other economies. The block saw a real GDP growth of 5.3 percent in 2022, which is likely to slow to 3.2 percent this year. The Central Bank was optimistic that in 2023 inflation in the GCC region is expected to ease on the back of global growth challenges and declining international energy prices.
The Central Bank projects UAE’s real output growth to slow to 3.9 percent in 2023, largely reflecting a decline in oil production partially offset by the strong performance of the non-oil sector. Growth is projected to increase to 4.3 percent in 2024, owing to a better performance in both the oil and non-oil sectors.
In 2022, the UAE banking sector recorded a 10.5 percent growth in total assets, reaching Dhs 670 billion. The sector exhibited resilience during the pandemic, supported by broad-based measures by the CBUAE. The Targeted Economic Support Scheme (TESS) was wound down in 2022 as the sector and economy recovered from the pandemic’s repercussions. The UAE banking system in 2022 consisted of 61 licensed banks, including two digital banks. The number of physical bank branches decreased by 22.3 percent in the past three years, driven by the digitalization of financial services.
Source: IBP