UAE’s merchandise and services trade totalled $1.258 trillion (Dh4.61 trillion) last year, reaching almost the same level as the previous year driven by services sector, according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Merchandise exports dropped five per cent to $488 billion last year, ranked 14th globally. Meanwhile, imports rose 7 per cent to $449 billion, positioning the country as the 16th largest importer in the world. The UAE’s merchandise exports and imports accounted for 2.1 per cent and 1.9 per cent of the global share, respectively.
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“Merchandise imports were down in most economies, partly due to falling prices for commodities such as oil and natural gas, the price of which fell 63 per cent on average in 2023. All major economies saw a decline except for a few large energy exporters, including the UAE (up 7 per cent), Russia (10 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (11 per cent),” said WTO in its annual report.
The UAE has signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) with a host of countries such as India, Georgia, South Korea, and Israel among others, which gave a big boost to trade and commercial services sectors.
The drop in merchandise trade was offset by the rise in services sectors. The government has been aggressively working on establishing the country as a services-based economy. To achieve this, the UAE has been trying to attract the best talents from around the world by offering long-term residency permits such as Golden Visa and Silver Visa to different professionals, scientists, and outstanding students.
In terms of commercial services, the UAE was ranked 13th globally with exports jumping 8 per cent to $165 billion. Meanwhile, commercial services imports rose 13 per cent to $108 billion, ranking as the world’s 18th largest economy among importers.
The UAE was ranked 20th globally in digitally delivered services last year, reaching $48 billion in 2023 compared to $46 billion in the previous year.
The UAE and other Gulf countries’ merchandise exports fell due to a drop in commodity prices such as oil and gas.
Globally, the US dollar value of world merchandise trade fell 5 per cent in 2023 to $24.01 trillion but this decline was mostly offset by a strong increase in commercial services trade, which rose 9 per cent to $7.54 trillion.
Going forward, WTO projected that world merchandise trade volume is expected to grow 2.6 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025 as demand for traded goods rebounds following a contraction in 2023.