Abu Dhabi’s economic growth surges 9.5% in 2017

Abu Dhabi’s gross domestic product (GDP) surged 9.5 per cent last year, the emirate’s statistics body said on Wednesday.

Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD) said the growth in current price terms reflected the success of the oil-rich emirate’s diversification plans.

Gross domestic product increased from Dhs760.4bn ($207bn) to Dhs832.5bn ($226.6bn), according to the announcement.

Non-oil activity stood at Dhs533.6bn, or 64 per cent of GDP, compared to Dhs298.8bn for oil activity.

During the year Brent crude surged from around $55.65 in January to $69 by the of December despite a slump in May to below $48.

The statistics centre said the oil sector’s contribution would likely continue to decline in the years to come.

Economic growth increased 19.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period the previous year before dropping to 5.8 per cent in Q2, 5.7 per cent in Q3 and 8.1 per cent in Q4.

Growth dipped 9.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2016, 7.9 percent in the second quarter and 1.6 per cent in the third quarter before returning to 10.4 percent growth in the fourth quarter, SCAD figures show.

“It is worth noting that the activity witnessed by the Abu Dhabi economy during the last year coincided with the continuation of government spending on major projects, which is expected to continue during the years 2018-2019 and the value of more than Dhs30bn,” according to the announcement.

In contrast, GDP growth in the UAE’s second richest emirate Dubai slowed to 2.6 per cent to Dhs389bn ($105.9bn) in 2017 compared to 2.9 per cent the previous year.

Read: Dubai economy slows in 2017