UAE GDP projected to grow by 3.7% in 2024, 3.8% by 2025: World Bank

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According to the World Bank’s new Global Economic Prospects report the UAE’s real GDP is expected to grow by 3.4 per cent in 2023, rising to 3.7 per cent in 2024 and to 3.8 per cent in 2025.

The report also forecasted the growth of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.It stated that a rise to 3.6 per cent in 2024 and 3.8 per cent in 2025 was expected based on the strong performance of the non-oil sector activity last year.

Growth in oil importers also reduced last year, reflecting anemic private sector activity, the report said, adding that growth is expected to move up to 3.2 per cent this year and 3.7 per cent in 2025.

The growth outlook for GCC nations

Growth in Saudi Arabia is projected to grow by 4.1 per cent this year, rising to 4.2 per cent next year, while the Kuwaiti economy is expected to grow by 2.6 percent by the end of this year, rising to 2.7 per cent next year. Bahrain’s economy is expected to grow by 3.3 per cent in 2024 and 3.2 per cent in 2025.

The World Bank expects Qatar’s economy to grow by 2.5 per cent this year, rising to 3.1 per cent next year, while the economy of Oman is projected to grow by 2.7 per cent in 2024 and 2.9 per cent in 2025.

The report stated that the growth rate in the Middle East and North Africa region slowed down sharply to 1.9 per cent in 2023, as the region faced multiple headwinds, including oil production cuts, elevated inflation, and weak private sector activity in oil-importing economies.

The World Bank report also expected the growth rate in the region to rise to 3.5 per cent in 2024 and 2025.

Global outlook for 2024: World Bank

Global growth is projected to slow for the third year in a row—from 2.6 per cent last year to 2.4 per cent in 2024, almost three-quarters of a percentage point below the average of the 2010s.

Developing economies are projected to grow just 3.9 per cent, more than one percentage point below the average of the previous decade.

According to the report After a disappointing performance last year, low-income countries should grow 5.5 per cnt, weaker than previously expected.

By the end of 2024, people in about one out of every four developing countries and about 40 per cent of low-income countries will still be poorer than they were on the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019.

In advanced economies, meanwhile, growth is set to slow to 1.2 per cent this year from 1.5 pr cent in 2023.