DUBAI: The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade stood at Dhs1.172 trillion during the first nine months of 2016, posting almost flat growth compared to Dhs1.170 trillion during the same period in 2015. The share of imports in the UAE’s total non-oil trade amounted to Dhs721.2bn, up 1 per cent year-on-year, while exports grew by 6 per cent to reach Dhs149.1bn, according to data from the Federal Customs Authority (FCA). In terms of imports, native and semi-processed gold topped the list at Dhs89.6bn, accounting for 12 per cent of the total non-oil imports. Mobile phones came second at Dhs65.7bn(9 per cent), followed by cars at Dhs38.6bn (5.3 per cent), non-composite diamonds at Dhs35.4bn (5 per cent), and petroleum oils at Dhs26.4bn ( 4 per cent).
Gold also topped the list of exports with a value of Dhs43.3bn, representing 29 per cent of the total non-oil exports. It was followed by raw aluminium at Dhs14.1 bn (9.5 per cent), ornaments and jewellery at Dhs13.6bn (9 per cent), ethylene polymers in primary forms at Dhs9.5bn (6 per cent), and cigarettes and cigars at Dhs6.6bn (4 per cent). Meanwhile the UAE’s re-exports during the first nine months of 2016 were valued at Dhs301.4bn. Mobile phones emerged as the most re-exported commodity with a value of Dhs48.1bn – accounting for 16 per cent of the total re-exports. Non-composite diamonds came next, followed by ornaments and jewellery, and automatic data processing machines. The total non-oil trade volumes in terms of weight stood at approximately 176.7 million tonnes with 77.7 million tonnes of imported goods, 84.7 million tonnes of exports and 14.3 million tonnes of re-exports. Geographically, Asia, Australia and the Pacific region remained the UAE’s top non-oil trading partners with a share of Dhs465.7bn, equivalent to 42 per cent of the total. Europe came next with a share of Dhs250.4bn, followed by the Middle East and North Africa Region with Dhs213.9bn.
The UAE’s non-oil trade with the GCC countries constituted 11 per cent of its total non-oil trade, amounting to Dhs126.1bn. Saudi Arabia came topped the list of Gulf countries with a value of Dhs54.8bn (43 per cent of the total), followed by Oman (Dhs23.6bn), Kuwait (Dhs18.8bn), Qatar (Dhs16.4bn) and Bahrain (Dhs12.5bn). The wider Arab states accounted for 19 per cent of its total non-oil trade, with a value of Dhs218.3bn. Overall, direct non-oil foreign trade accounted for 69 per cent of the country’s total volume of foreign trade between January to September 2016, valued at Dhs813.7bn. Commissioner Ali Al Kaabi, head of FCA, said that the growth in the volume of the UAE’s direct non-oil trade reflects the “country’s success in achieving economic diversification and affirms the improvement and competitiveness of national products in global markets”. “Non-oil trade activity reflects an improvement in the UAE’s trade balance with many countries and supports traders’ and investors’ confidence in the UAE economy,” official news agency WAM quoted him as saying.
