UAE(United Arab Emirates) foreign trade reached AED 5.23 trillion (US$1.42 trillion) in 2024 according to data released by the UAE Federal Authority for Competitiveness and Statistics. This represents a 49% increase over AED 3.5 trillion (US$952.9 billion) in 2021 and the UAE forward looking economic strategy despite global trade uncertainty.
This has also propelled the UAE well into the ranks of the world’s leading trading nations. WTO(world trade organization) data makes the UAE an 11th largest in merchandise exports and 13th in exports of services. The trade surplus of the country was too healthy at AED 492.3 billion (US$134 billion).
Much of this success can be attributed to the UAE diversified export portfolio. The UAE exported AED 646.6 billion worth of services out of which AED 191 billion was purely of digital services.
For the merchandise sector, exports amounted to AED 2.22 trillion with the UAE generating 41.4% of the region’s merchandise export activity.
UAE since 2014 has continued to be the largest trade hub in the Middle East and Africa. The credit of this development goes to the great vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
For the period 2021–2024, global rankings for the UAE in this area have improved to 11th from 17th for merchandise exports and 14th from 18th for imports.
Exports in 2024 reached to US$603 billion (AED 2.2153 trillion) while imports reached US$539 billion (AED 1.9802 trillion)
The UAE also secured 21st globally in terms of digital services exports. The overall services sector performed strongly by reaching AED 1.036 trillion (US$282 billion). Information services grew by 14%, tourism by 13%, computer services by 12% and financial services by 9%. 8% better than other sectors such as transport, intellectual property and insurance.
On the merchandise side, exports of telecommunications equipment, electronics and agricultural products increased whereas traditional exports such as fuels and mining products saw slight decreases. Also read this : 5 Best Websites to Get a Job in the UAE for Pakistanis
