UAE non-oil foreign trade reached AED1.937 trillion in H1

Non-oil foreign trade in the United Arab Emirates reached AED1.937 trillion in the first half of 2026. Government figures reported by the Emirates News Agency WAM on 19 July show a 13.1 percent annual increase. The measure covers trade value during January to June. It is not a full-year result, and a monetary total alone does not indicate the quantity of goods moved or the value added inside the country.

Non-oil exports were a notable component of the expansion. They rose 23.9 percent year on year to AED452.8 billion. Their share of total non-oil foreign trade increased to 23.4 percent, from 21.3 percent in the first half of 2025. WAM’s comparison puts the share at 18.4 percent in 2024 and 16.9 percent in 2023. The figures therefore show that exports increased both in value and as a proportion of the reported trade total.

These are value-based trade measures. The announcement does not provide a separate series for volumes and prices, so the figures cannot show how much of the increase came from more units shipped and how much from changing prices. Non-oil foreign trade also covers flows beyond exports, including imports and re-exports. The headline total should not be read as the value of goods produced in the UAE and sold abroad.

China was the UAE’s largest non-oil trading partner, with AED180.7 billion in trade. Switzerland followed at AED138.4 billion and India at AED107.5 billion. Non-oil trade with the ten largest partners rose 12.6 percent year on year, while trade with the rest of the world increased 13.6 percent. Those figures indicate that growth was not confined to the biggest partners, although the release does not show the product mix for each country.

Non-oil trade with countries whose Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements were fully in force reached AED304.3 billion. Imports from those countries were AED193.5 billion and non-oil exports to them were AED66.1 billion. Non-oil exports accounted for 21.7 percent of trade with in-force CEPA partners, compared with 19.1 percent in 2022. The reported category covers agreements already in force; it does not combine them with deals still under negotiation or not yet implemented.

Gold was the largest reported commodity category by trade value at AED706.2 billion in the first half, up 48.8 percent year on year. Telecommunications products followed at AED189.7 billion. Gold jewellery, automobiles and diamonds were also among the leading categories. The top ten commodities made up about 67 percent of total non-oil merchandise trade. This ranking describes traded commodities; by itself, it does not establish local production volumes or the share of exports manufactured in the UAE.

The multi-year comparison indicates the scale of the reported expansion: first-half 2026 trade was 39.6 percent higher than in 2024, 54.5 percent above 2023 and 78.8 percent above 2022. It was also more than double the level for the same period in 2019 and 2021. These comparisons provide a nominal view of trade-network growth. Because the release does not separate exchange-rate, price and product-mix effects, they should not be interpreted as inflation-adjusted growth rates.

For a fuller assessment, subsequent data would need to separate exports, imports and re-exports; show quantities as well as values; and break down CEPA trade by partner and sector. That would clarify how much of the larger trade total reaches exporting firms and domestic production. The current announcement establishes that non-oil trade value and the export share rose, with growth across the reported partner groups. Further data would be needed to assess effects on production, employment or productivity.