Dubai's economy grew by 4 per cent annually in the first quarter of 2025, backed by expansion across several key sectors.
The emirate's gross domestic product rose to Dh119.7 billion ($32.6 billion) in the three months that ended in March, Dubai Media Office said on Thursday.
The growth was driven by “strong performances” in key sectors, with human health and social work posting the highest year-on-year growth rate at 26 per cent to hit Dh1.9 billion, it said.
In terms of value, the wholesale and retail trade sector was the biggest at Dh27.5 billion, up 4.5 per cent year-on-year and contributing nearly a quarter to Dubai's economy in the first three months.
Activity in real estate, one of Dubai's most important sectors, rose 7.8 per cent to about Dh9 billion.
The volume and value of real estate transactions in Dubai rose sharply in the first half of the year amid the entry of more than 59,000 new investors into the booming market, Dubai Media Office said last month, quoting Dubai Land Department data.
The number of transactions reached 125,538, up nearly 26 per cent from 99,947 during the first six months of last year. The value of these transactions rose about 25 per cent to about Dh431 billion, “highlighting the strong growth momentum in the market”, the report said.
In the first quarter, financial and insurance, another key industry in Dubai, grew 5.9 per cent to Dh16 billion. Manufacturing grew 3.3 per cent to Dh8.7 billion.
Accommodation and food services posted a 3.4 per cent increase to reach Dh4.9 billion, the report found.
Dubai received 9.88 million international visitors in the first six months of 2025, Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said this month.
Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism said the latest figure represents a 6 per cent year-on-year increase. The data highlights Dubai's continuing growth as a global tourism hub, after the city welcomed a record 18.72 million international visitors last year.
Meanwhile, transport and storage added 2 per cent to Dubai's GDP in the second quarter, at Dh15.7 billion. Information and telecoms rose 3.2 per cent to Dh5.3 billion.
Overall, the trade, real estate, financial services, transport and industry sectors collectively contributed about 78 per cent of Dubai's total growth, the media office said.
“At a time when businesses, investors and entrepreneurs are seeking stability and certainty, Dubai’s sustained and diversified economic growth continues to underscore its global appeal,” said Hadi Badri, chief executive of Dubai Economic Development Corporation.
The emirate remains focused on boosting domestic and international partnerships through strategic initiatives to unlock "new opportunities, enabling innovation, and turning ideas and plans into scaleable, commercial successes", he added.
Dubai's economy has been expanding on the back of several government initiatives aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship and attracting international investments
The emirate is currently working towards its Dubai Economic Agenda, or D33, which aims to double the size of its economy to Dh32 trillion over the next decade and establish the emirate among the top three global cities.
The wider UAE has also undergone robust growth in its economy, which expanded by 4 per cent in 2024 to hit Dh1.776 trillion, driven by its non-oil sector as the country continues to diversify, official data showed in June.
The World Bank in June upgraded its economic growth forecast for the UAE to 4.6 per cent this year, up from its 4 per cent projection in January.
Emirates NBD, Dubai's biggest bank by assets, expects the emirate's economy accelerate to 3.7 per cent this year on the back of substantial project spending from both the private and public sectors.
The UAE has also been ranked as the world's second most preferred destination for foreign direct investments.
The Emirates, which received Dh167 billion in FDI last year, aims to increase that figure to Dh1.3 trillion by 2031.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
