ABU DHABI: The UAE’s non-oil direct trade stood at Dh534.1 billion in the first half of 2015 compared to Dh521.8 billion a year ago, achieving a growth of two per cent, according to the preliminary statistical data from the Federal Customs Authority, or FCA.
Commissioner Ali Al Kaabi, head of the FCA, said in a Press statement that the UAE’s total direct non-oil trade is considerably stable despite the economic crisis witnessed by many countries around the world, in addition to the slow growth in a number of advance and emerged economies, China in particular, which comes on top of the UAE’s trade partners.
The stability and the growing trends of the UAE’s foreign non-oil trade establishes the strong position of the country’s economy, and reflects the successful economic diversification policy adopted by the UAE government, in addition to the capability of the UAE exports to strongly compete in international markets.
The FCA’s preliminary data indicated that the share of imports of the UAE’s total direct non-oil trade amounted to Dh337.6 billion during the said period, compared to Dh340.6 billion a year ago, recording a drop of one per cent. It also revealed that native gold and processed gold came on top of imported goods in the first half of the year, recording Dh50.7 billion with a share value of 15 per cent of total non-oil imports.
Vehicles came in second on the list of imports with a value of Dh24.8 billion, a 7.3 per cent share, followed by non-composite diamond (Dh22.1 billion), mobile phones (Dh16.1 billion), and ornaments, jewellery and precious metals (Dh14.1 billion).
On the other hand, UAE exports tremendously grew by 28 per cent as it reached Dh81.4 billion compared to Dh63.6 billion a year ago, with gold exports on top with a value of Dh28.7 billion, representing 35 per cent of the UAE’s total non-oil exports. This was followed by raw aluminium (Dh8.9 billion), ornaments and jewellery (Dh7.7 billion) and ethylene polymers in primary forms (Dh3.5 billion).
