Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced that the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade approached AED2 trillion in the first half of 2026. The Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai pointed to a 13.1 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. Exports set a new record at AED452.8 billion during those six months, according to the statement carried by WAM.
The latest results build directly on the full-year 2025 performance when non-oil foreign trade reached AED3.8 trillion for the first time, according to an earlier statement from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. That annual total represented a 27 percent rise from 2024 and a 44.3 percent increase from 2023. Exports for all of 2025 stood at AED813.8 billion, up more than 45.5 percent from 2024, the same statements showed.
Exports accounted for 21.6 percent of total non-oil trade in 2025, up from 18.8 percent at the end of 2024, a Federal Customs Authority assessment found. The 2025 export total exceeded targets under the We the UAE 2031 vision by more than AED13.8 billion. Non-oil trade values have nearly doubled since 2021, according to the authority’s historical comparisons.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum attributed the sustained gains to a developed investment ecosystem, deeper private-sector cooperation and rising global confidence in the UAE economy. The ruler reviewed the latest figures in the announcement distributed via the Emirates News Agency. His comments underscored the role of trade in the country’s broader economic strategy.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development has listed foreign trade as central to plans that aim to double GDP to AED3 trillion by 2031 while targeting AED4 trillion in overall foreign trade and AED800 billion in non-oil exports. Non-oil goods trade stood at a record AED2.574 trillion in 2023 with goods exports at AED441 billion that year, according to the department’s data. The first-half 2026 figures align with the longer-term growth pattern outlined in those national visions.
