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ABU DHABI/WAM
Roberta Gatti, Chief Economist of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region of the World Bank, emphasised confidence in the continued growth of the UAE’s economy during 2024 and 2025.
In statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of the announcement of the World Bank Group’s cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Global Market Academy to promote financial literacy, economic knowledge and sustainable development in the region, Gatti highlighted the UAE’s role as a regional hub for trade, business, and travel, driven by its progress in economic diversification and reduced reliance on oil.
She projected that the UAE’s GDP will grow by 3.4 percent in 2024, with continued fiscal and monetary surpluses in the medium term.
Gatti also noted that the Middle East and North Africa region’s average growth is expected to reach 2.2 percent in 2024, a moderate increase from 1.8 percent recorded last year, but one percentage point below the pre-pandemic average recorded before COVID-19.
The Chief Economist of the Mena region of the World Bank attributed the region’s growth rate to the performance of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies, which are expected to grow by 1.9 percent in 2024 compared to 0.5 percent in 2023, supported by the expansion of the non-oil sector in most GCC economies.
Gatti anticipated GCC growth to accelerate to 4.2 percent in 2025, with developing oil-exporting countries growing at 3.3 percent and developing oil-importing countries at 3.5 percent during the same year.
She also emphasised the critical importance of women’s participation in the economy to support prosperity in the Mena region, noting that closing the gender employment gap could increase the region’s GDP per capita by 51 percent.