Economy of the United Arab Emirates

Economy of the United Arab Emirates
	Dubai, the economic center of the UAE
Currency	Emirati dirham (AED, د.إ)
Fixed exchange rates	US$1 = 3.6725 AED
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	OPEC, WTO, GCC, BRICS
Country group	Developing/Emerging; High-income economy; Oil-based economy, seeking to diversify;
Statistics
Population	9,441,129 (2022)
GDP	$568.57 billion (nominal; 2025 est.); $908.9 billion (PPP; 2025 est.);
GDP rank	29th (nominal; 2024); 34th (PPP; 2024);
GDP growth	7.51% (2022); 3.62% (2023e); 4.01% (2024f);
GDP per capita	$51,290 (nominal; 2025 est.); $82,000 (PPP; 2025 est.);
GDP per capita rank	19th (nominal; 2024); 5th (PPP; 2024);
GDP by sector	Agriculture: 0.9%; Industry: 49.8%; Services: 49.2%; (2017 est.);
Inflation (CPI)	1.62% (2023 est.)
Population below poverty line	N/A
Gini coefficient	26.0 low (2018)
Human Development Index	0.937 very high (2022) (17th); 0.859 very high IHDI (16th) (2022);
Labour force	6,668,172 (2023); 78.3% employment rate (2019); expatriates account for about 85% of the workforce;
Labour force by occupation	Agriculture: 7%; Industry: 15%; Services: 78%; (2000 est.);
Unemployment	3.36% (2021)
Main industries	Petroleum; petrochemicals; fishing; aluminum; cement; fertilizer; ship repair; construction; materials; handicrafts; textiles;
External
Exports	$306.41 billion (2020 est.)
Export goods	Crude oil, refined petroleum, gold, reexports, telecommunications equipment, diamonds, petroleum gas, jewellery, aluminium (2021)
Main export partners	GCC 15.0% Saudi Arabia 7.5% ; Oman 3.8% ; Kuwait 1.6% ; Bahrain 1.3% ; Qatar 0.8% ; ; India 14.2%; Japan 8.3%; China 7.7%; Iraq 4.8% (2021);
Imports	$229.2 billion (2017 est.)
Import goods	Gold, food, machinery, transport vehicles and parts, refined petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, jewellery, refined copper (2021)
Main import partners	China 17.3%; European Union 13.0% Germany 3.1% ; Italy 2.3% ; France 1.8% ; Belgium 1.4% ; Netherlands 1.0% ; Other EU 3.4% ; ; GCC 9.5% Saudi Arabia 5.2% ; Oman 1.5% ; Qatar 1.2% ; Bahrain 1.0% ; Kuwait 0.6% ; ; India 9.4%; United States 5.5% (2021);
FDI stock	$129.9 billion (2017 est.); Abroad: $124.4 billion (2017 est.);
Current account	$26.47 billion (2017 est.)
Gross external debt	$237.6 billion (2017 est.)
Public finances
Government debt	38.33% of GDP (2020 est.)
Foreign reserves	$95.37 billion (2017 est.)
Budget balance	−0.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Revenues	15.79 billion (2021 est.)
Expenses	16.6 billion (2021 est.)
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's: AA; Outlook: Stable; Moody's: Aa2; Outlook: Stable; Fitch: AA; Outlook: Stable
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The United Arab Emirates is a high-income developing market economy. The UAE's economy is the 3rd largest in the Middle East (after Turkey and Saudi Arabia ), with a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$415 billion (AED 1.83 trillion) in 2021-2023.

The UAE economy is heavily reliant on revenues from petroleum and natural gas, especially in Abu Dhabi. In 2009, more than 85% of the UAE's economy was based on the oil exports. In 2011, oil exports accounted for 77% of the UAE's state budget. In recent years, there has been some economic diversification, particularly in Dubai. Abu Dhabi and other UAE emirates have remained relatively conservative in their approach to diversification. Dubai has far smaller oil reserves than its counterparts.

Tourism is one of the biggest non-oil sources of revenue in the UAE. A massive construction boom, an expanding manufacturing base, and a thriving services sector are helping the country to diversify its economy. In 2007, there was US $350 billion worth of active construction projects.

The UAE is a member of the World Trade Organization and OPEC.