Dubai: The non-oil sector in the UAE is picking up, the Minister of Economy stated on Tuesday, announcing that the national economy grew by four per cent in 2013.
Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri stated that strong performances from tourism, industry, finance and trade helped the UAE maintain positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth, with the total economy worth Dh1.4 trillion in 2013.
The UAE economy is largely dependent on oil exports out of Abu Dhabi. However, the country continues to heavily invest in efforts to diversify its reliance from the hydrocarbons sector. Significant investments have been made into the tourism industry with multi-billion dollar aircraft orders and airport infrastructure developments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Dubai International handled 66 million passengers last year, a 15.2 per cent increase over the pervious year. Abu Dhabi International handled 16.5 million, an increase of 12.4 per cent over 2012.
Financial districts
Other investments have been made to develop financial districts in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, among other non-oil sectors.
In January, Al Mansouri said that the UAE economy would be better if the economic situation in Europe and the US improved.
The 2013 inflation rate was not given; however, Al Mansouri said in January that it would be between 1 and 1.5 per cent.
The four per cent increase to GDP growth was announced in a statement on Tuesday with the figure attributed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In previous years, the GDP figure has been released by the UAE National Bureau of Statistics. GDP grew by 4.4 per cent in 2012.
