The UAE’s Central Bank recently published statistics showing that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) had risen to 242 billion Emirati dirhams ($65.8 billion) in 2000, up from Dh190.5 billion in 1999. These figures reflect a 27.5 percent increase.
The bank also revealed that the UAE’s GDP has risen steadily by approximately 9.2 percent every year during the years 1993 through 2000, according to Gulf News.
The continued growth has been attributed to the climbing process of oil, which in turn led to an increase of exports of good and services. These exports constituted nearly 16 percent of the GDP.
Exports to Japan last year were valued at an estimated 33.9 percent of total exports. South Korea accounted for 4.6 percent, India for 5.3 percent, Singapore for 3.7 percent, and Pakistan for 2.8 percent. Imports from Asian countries accounted for 42.2 percent of the total in 2000.
Furthermore, a trade surplus with Asia in favor of the UAE reached $8.3 billion in 2000, up from $3 billion in 1999.
The UAE's exports to Europe, on the other hand, reached only 6.3 percent in 2000, while imports from Europe equaled 38.1 percent of all imports during the same year. Exports to the U.S. equaled 2.36 percent of all exports, while imports to the U.S. dropped to 6.6 percent in 2000.
A trade deficit with Europe and the U.S. rose to $12 billion in 2000, compared with $10.7 billion in 1999. –(MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
