The UAE’s economy H1 2026 figures show real GDP reached AED 961.9 billion at constant prices, a rise of 0.4 percent from the same period in 2025. The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre released the data as preliminary estimates. Non-oil activities carried the result. UAE non-oil GDP grew 1.8 percent, raising the non-oil contribution to 79.2 percent of the economy, up from 78.1 percent a year earlier. Oil activities made up the remaining 20.8 percent.
Read together, the UAE’s economy H1 2026 numbers describe steady, broad-based expansion rather than one driver. Growth spread across trade, finance and insurance, construction, manufacturing, and real estate. That spread sits at the centre of UAE economic diversification, a direction the country has followed for years.
Non-oil sectors widen their lead
Financial and insurance activities recorded the fastest growth of any major sector in the first half, rising 14.8 percent. Information and communication followed at 7.3 percent. Health and social work grew 6 percent, construction 5.1 percent, government activities 3.6 percent, and real estate 2.3 percent.
The ranking by share tells a second story. Trade was the largest contributor to non-oil GDP at 16.2 percent. Financial and insurance activities came next at 15.2 percent, then construction at 13.1 percent, manufacturing at 11.8 percent, and real estate at 7.9 percent. Together, these non-oil sectors now anchor most of national output.
- The World Bank forecasts Saudi economy growth by 2027 at 7.9 percent, up about 3 points from its April estimate of 4.9 percent.
- For 2026, the bank now projects a 2 percent contraction in Saudi real GDP, reversed from an earlier call for 3.1 percent growth.
- The GCC economy forecast for 2026 points to a 4.3 percent contraction, tied to lower hydrocarbon output after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
- Saudi Arabia redirected crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu through the East-West pipeline, softening the disruption.
- GCC ECONOMY
A softer second quarter
The half-year gain masks a weaker three months. In the second quarter of 2026, real GDP reached AED 476.9 billion, a decline of 2.1 percent against the same quarter of 2025. Non-oil activities contracted 1.1 percent over the same period.
Regional developments weighed on the result. Tourism, transport, and trade felt the effect of travel disruption during the quarter. The pullback shows how outside shocks can still move headline figures. Even so, the UAE’s economy H1 2026 total ended higher than a year earlier, so the quarter’s weakness did not undo the half-year gain.
What comes next for UAE real GDP 2026
The half-year and quarterly readings are preliminary. They rest on the statistical methods and time series in use now, and they may change. The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre is running the UAE Comprehensive GDP Revision Programme with partners across the national statistical system. An updated national GDP time series is expected after the revision results are approved in the first quarter of 2027.
For now, the direction of UAE real GDP 2026 is clear enough. Non-oil output keeps taking a larger share, the sector base keeps widening, and reliance on oil keeps easing. Whether the second-quarter dip proves brief or lasting will show in the next release.
