UAE economy grows 3% in Q1 2026 to AED 485B

Several economic activities recorded growth in Q1 2026.

The UAE’s real GDP grew 3% in Q1 2026 to AED 485 billion at constant prices.

Non-oil GDP increased 4.8%, raising its contribution to 79.4% of the national economy, WAM reported. This reflected continued strength in non-oil economic activities, despite regional challenges that affected the first quarter, which impact was contained to a limited number of sectors, without influencing the overall economic growth trajectory.

The contribution of non-oil activities to GDP rose to 79.4% in Q1 2026, compared to 78.0% in a year earlier period.

Several economic activities recorded growth in Q1 2026 compared to the same period last year, with financial and insurance activities leading at 17.3%, followed by construction activity at 8.1%, while information and communications activities grew by 5.9%.

Data also showed notable growth in a number of other activities: real estate activities grew by 4.8%, public administration, defense, and compulsory social security by 4.5%, while wholesale and retail trade activities grew by 2.6%.

In terms of actual contribution to growth, financial and insurance activities topped the contributors list with 2.44 percentage points to non-oil GDP growth, followed by construction with 1.04 percentage points, wholesale and retail trade at 0.42 percentage points, and real estate activities at 0.36 percentage points.