Media ININ Economy We Trust
Media in Abu Dhabi 21 October 2018 / WAM /
The gross domestic product of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi at current prices reached about 456 billion dirhams during the first half of 2018, a growth of 12% compared to about 407 billion dirhams during the same period of 2017. The continued rise in the GDP index reflects the state of activity witnessed in the local economy since the beginning of this year, especially the continued improvement in oil prices in addition to the growth recorded in many non-oil economic activities, according to figures released by the Abu Dhabi Statistics Center. While the gross domestic product grew by 9% in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter of 2017, the growth rate increased to 15.3% in the second quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Economists expected Abu Dhabi’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to continue for the rest of 2018, supported by continued improvement in oil prices, which reached its highest level in several years, pointing out that the expansion of local government spending will contribute to the overall growth of the economy. In the first half of this year, the total output of oil activities in Abu Dhabi rose to 180 billion dirhams, accounting for 39.4% of the total output at current prices during the period from January to June 2018. On the quarterly level, the gross output of oil activities grew by 35.7% during the second quarter of this year, while its growth during the first quarter of the same year was 15.2%. In the first half of this year, the value of non-oil activities reached AED 276 billion, an increase of 4.9% compared to AED 263 billion in the first half of 2017.
