UAE economy grew 1.7% in 2018 on non-oil sector growth and higher oil prices

Economy is on track to deliver UAE Vision 2021, Economy Minister Sultan Al Mansouri says

UAE's Ministry of Economy has cancelled fees on 102 government services. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The UAE's economy grew 1.7 per cent last year, driven by a rise in oil revenues and a strong performance of the country’s non-oil economic sector, the Minister of Economy said.

Gross domestic product rose at real prices to Dh1.44 trillion at the end of 2018 from Dh1.41tn at the end of 2017, said Sultan Al Mansouri, the state-run news agency Wam reported.

The UAE economy, the second largest after Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, is on track to deliver the UAE Vision 2021, which aims to develop the country's non-oil sectors and reduce dependency on oil revenues, the minister added.

The country's non-oil sector economy, climbed an annual 2.9 per cent last year to 1.13bn at current prices and 1.3 per cent at constant prices compared with 2017, Mr Al Mansouri said.

The figures are are from preliminary macro-economy indexes by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA) for last year.

The oil and gas sector contributed 25.9 per cent to GDP, while the retail and whole trade sector accounted for 11.2 per cent, the financial sector represented 9.2 per cent, manufacturing came in at 8.9 per cent and building and construction sectors at 8.3 per cent, according to FCSA.