UAE’s economy grew 2.9% in 2019 – report

The UAE economy grew by 2.9 per cent in 2019, compared to 1.7 per cent in 2018, the Central Bank said in its fourth-quarter report.

Growth in the non-hydrocarbon sector, estimated at 1.1 per cent, and in the hydrocarbon sector, estimated at 7.6 per cent in 2019, were key factors that prompted the UAE’s GDP growth last year, according to the Central Bank’s ‘Quarterly Economic Review’ report for Q4 2019.

“The hydrocarbon sector exhibited significant growth, mainly due to the two-digit growth in condensates and natural gas production,” the Central Bank said in the report.

The UAE economy grew 4 per cent in the second quarter of 2019 while the fourth quarter posted a sluggish growth figure of 1.3 per cent, the report said.

“In the UAE, oil production exhibited a slight decrease during the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter by an average of 0.3 per cent to 3,040 tbd. Production decreased also on a yearly basis by an average of 6.9 per cent, in line with the production cuts between OPEC members and its allies,” the Central Bank added.

“Employment in the private sector picked up further momentum with year-on-year growth of 2 per cent in the fourth quarter, the highest growth in the last seven quarters, while 38,765 net new jobs were created in Q4 2019.”

Meanwhile, in Q4 2019, deposits in the banking system increased by 6.5 per cent year-on-year, mainly driven by the increase in GREs (government related entities) and private sector deposits, the report noted.

In terms of outward personal remittances, India remained the top destination country during October-December 2019 making up 40.1 per cent of the pool, followed by Pakistan (9.9 per cent), Philippines (7.4 per cent), Egypt (5.9 per cent), the US (3.7 per cent) and the UK (3.6 per cent), the report added.