Xifres de comerç exterior dels Emirats Àrabs Units

Foreign Trade in Figures

The United Arab Emirates is among the world’s most dynamic markets in terms of foreign trade, which accounts for 202% of the GDP according to the latest available data from World Bank. The country is one of the world's top 20 largest exporters and importers of commodities and the largest trading nation in the Middle East. According to the World Trade Outlook and Statistics report by the WTO, in 2023, the UAE ranked 14th globally in goods exports, accounting for 2.4% of global merchandise exports, and 16th in imports. Oil products are by far the largest item of exports (the country is the world’s 4th oil exporter globally), followed by gold, petroleum gas, telephone sets, diamonds and jewellery, and motor cars. Gold is also among the major imports, along with telephones, motor cars, and diamonds (data Comtrade for 2023).

Saudi Arabia is the top destination of Emirati exports (5.2%), followed by India (4.4%), Iraq (4%), Turkey (3.3%), Hong Kong (2.5%), and the U.S. (2.4%). China (16.5%), India (6.5%), the United States (5.7%), Turkey (3.8%) and Japan (3.2%) are among the UAE's main suppliers of goods and services (data Comtrade 2023). The UAE, within the GCC framework, has signed GCC Free Trade Agreements with many countries including New Zealand, Singapore, and EFTA countries. Negotiations are currently underway with several countries and trade groups, including the European Union, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, Pakistan, India, Turkey, and the Mercosur member countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).

The United Arab Emirates has a structurally positive trade balance, but the surplus is closely linked to global oil prices. In 2023, the country recorded a trade surplus accounting for 14.9% of its GDP (from 18.7% one year earlier - World Bank). In the same year, exports decreased by 5.4%, to USD 487.7 billion, due to lower energy prices; while imports rose to USD 448.6 billion (+6.7% y-o-y). Preliminary estimates by the UAE government indicate that the country’s foreign trade hit a historic AED 3 trillion milestone by the end of 2024, driven by record non-oil trade of AED 2.997 trillion (USD 815.7 billion), up 14.6% from 2023. Non-oil exports surged 27.6% to AED 561.2 billion, raising their share of total trade to 18.7%. Re-exports grew 7.3% to AED 734.4 billion, while non-oil imports climbed 14.2% to AED 1.701 trillion.