UAE achieves 3.8% GDP growth in 2021, highest in the region: Sheikh Mohammed

The World Bank had forecast a growth of 2.1% for the country's economy

Muzaffar Rizvi

Published: Thu 7 Apr 2022, 6:19 PM

Last updated: Fri 8 Apr 2022, 12:26 AM

Despite 'a turbulent changing world', the UAE's economy recorded strong upward growth in 2021.

On Thursday, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said the UAE has not stopped moving forward, and the economy is on the rise.

Taking to Twitter, Sheikh Mohammed said: "In a turbulent changing world, the UAE has not stopped moving steadily forward, our economy is on the rise."

In a series of tweets, Sheikh Mohammed said that the Statistics Centre had finished calculating the gross domestic product (GDP) of the UAE for 2021.

According to the Centre, the country has achieved 3.8 per cent growth, which was higher than in 2019 and the highest in the region.

The Emirates performed better than the World Bank's indication of 2.1 per cent.

Sheikh Mohammed tweeted: “The expectations of the World Bank indicated a growth of 2.1 per cent for our national economy, and we achieved 3.8 per cent growth in 2021 — higher than the growth of 2019 and the highest growth in the region."

In a latest report, the Central Bank of the UAE said national economy will grow at 4.2 per cent this year despite inflationary pressure. It estimates that real GDP grew by 2.3 per cent last year compared to an earlier forecast of 2.1 per cent.

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Matthew Cunningham, economist at FocusEonomics, said the UAE growth is set to increase notably this year as oil output rises, with the nonoil sector adding further impetus.

“A high vaccination rate and the Expo 2020 will boost spending, while the government’s reform agenda should encourage investment,” he said, adding that regional tensions, oil prices, US monetary policy and new Covid-19 variants are key risks.

FocusEconomics panelists forecast GDP to expand five per cent in 2022, which is up 0.3 percentage points from last month’s forecast, and 4.2 per cent in 2023.