Business | Economy
Abu Dhabi GDP crosses Dh400b
Soaring oil prices and the government's economic diversification raised Abu Dhabi's gross domestic product (GDP) 21.8 per cent last year to more than Dh400 billion, up from Dh341 billion in 2006, the Department of Planning and Economy (DPE) said yesterday.
- By Ahmed A. Elewa, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:07 August 7, 2008
Abu Dhabi: Soaring oil prices and the government's economic diversification raised Abu Dhabi's gross domestic product (GDP) 21.8 per cent last year to more than Dh400 billion, up from Dh341 billion in 2006, the Department of Planning and Economy (DPE) said yesterday.
"In absolute terms the relative weight of oil revenues has grown to more than 90 per cent of the total, but that simply is owing to the increasing prices. Nevertheless, the real weight of other sectors has been growing consistently," Butti Ahmad Al Qubaisi, executive director for planning and statistics at the department, said.
Abu Dhabi is striving to increase the share of the non-oil sector of GDP to 60 per cent by 2030. It stands at 39.73 per cent or Dh158.94 billion now.
"The share of oil revenues fell from 92.3 per cent to 91.6 per cent despite the rising prices, indicating the strong growth in non-oil sectors," said Dr. Ahmad Zain Al Manawi, economic expert at the department.
With more than Dh40 billion allocated for tourism development and more than Dh100 billion for new real estate projects up to 2010, the department expects growth to intensify further in the coming years. "We will announce the emirate's five-year economic plan within two months after signing an agreement with an international consultant, who will draft the plan within nine to 12 months," Al Qubaisi said.
The emirate also seeks to increase the value of foreign direct investments (FDI), which stood at Dh17.8 billion in 2007.
"This is a relatively low value, accounting for only 24 per cent of the total FDI received by the UAE in 2007, while Abu Dhabi's contribution to the country's GDP exceeds 58 per cent," the DPE report said.
"We will address all the difficulties being faced by foreign investors, and that will include inflationary pressures," Al Qubaisi said, predicting that inflation in Abu Dhabi will stabilise as from next year.
In its first Economic and Social Report, the department traced the consumer price index in the emirate from 2002 to 2007. The index went up, year-on-year, by 1.23 per cent in 2003 compared to 2002, and by 10.66 per cent in 2007 compared to 2006, reflecting the growing inflation.
"We hope that the measures applied by the Federal Ministry of Economy will begin to yield fruit next year," Al Qubaisi said.
"The property market will stabilise within two to three years time, and this will ease the inflationary pressures," Akeel Sharif Al Fouladi, economic consultant at DPE, said.
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