UAE non-oil foreign trade reaches AED784bn in H1

ABU DHABI / WAM

Preliminary statistical data of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) revealed that the UAE’s general trade volume from January to the end of June 2017 amounted to AED784 billion, compared to AED777.6 billion during the same period of 2016, signalling a one percent growth.
The UAE’s general trade volume kept increasing during the first six months of 2017, despite a decline in the growth rates of the global economy and an increase in the indicators of world trade decline
during the year 2017.
Commissioner Ali Al Kaabi, Head of the FCA, said in a press statement, that the UAE’s non-oil fo-reign trade growth reflects the importance of the country’s position in the world trade exchange map and its leadership as a
regional trade centre.
Al Kaabi added, “The non-oil trade activity reflects an improvement in the UAE trade balance with many world countries and assures the confidence of traders and
investors in the UAE economy.”
UAE’s direct non-oil foreign trade formed 68 percent of the total volume of general trade, valued at AED535.5 billion. The share of free zone trade was 32 percent valued at AED248.6 billion.
The FCA preliminary data indicated that the share of imports
of the UAE’s total non-oil gen-
eral trade amounted to AED477.8 billion during the first six months of 2017.
The native gold and semi-processed gold came on top of the imported goods during the first six months of 2017, recording AED68 billion with a share value of 14 percent of the total non-oil imports. Mobile phones came in second place on the list of imports at a value of AED44 billion at nine
percent; motor vehicles reached AED26.5 billion or six percent, followed by non-composite diamonds at a value of AED24.5 billion, five percent of the total non-oil imports during the said period.
The FCA stated that the UAE’s exports reached AED89.1 billion during the first six months of 2017 with gold exports coming on top at a value of AED26.4 billion, representing 29 percent of the UAE’s total non-oil exports. This was followed by ornaments and jewellery at a value of AED9.5 billion at 10 percent. The FCA preliminary data indicated that re-export was valued at AED217.2 billion during the first six months of 2017.