Abu Dhabi's non-oil real GDP expands by 4.1% in 2021

Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi (Scad) has announced statistical data that reflects rapid growth in most of Abu Dhabi's oil and non-oil activities at constant prices in 2021, underscoring the effectiveness of economic policies, the robustness of Abu Dhabi's local economy and the recovery from Covid-19 crisis.

The results announced by Scad at constant prices indicate that Abu Dhabi’s GDP at constant prices grew 1.9 per cent in 2021 compared with 2020.

Meanwhile, the non-oil GDP at constant prices grew by 4.1%. During the this year, several non-oil economic activities showed positive growth rates at constant prices, most notably the agriculture, forestry, and fishing activity, which expanded by 23.1 per cent while the manufacturing activity expanded by 21.7 per cent, health and social service activities by 19.7 per cent, arts, entertainment and recreation by 17.3 per cent, wholesale and retail trade by 15.3 per cent, accommodation and food service activities by 14.7 per cent, transportation and storage by seven per cent, and electricity, gas, water supply and waste management activities by 6.9 per cent.

In his comments on the estimates, Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) said the Emirate of Abu Dhabi has managed to overcome the consequences of this extraordinary glob-al situation, thanks to the prudent economic and investment policies set by our wise leadership, including several stimulus initiatives for business and household sectors.

"The initiatives helped the coronavirus-hit sectors to recover and expand while laying the groundwork for a robust economy that can overcome various challenges as well as formulating policies and legislation which keep pace with global changes and support ease of doing business. These initiatives promoted a stimulating investment environment that can attract talent and innovative entrepre-neurs, which is clearly reflected in the 2021 GDP results released by Scad," he said.

Rashed Abdulkarim Al Blooshi, undersecretary of ADDED, underscored the emirate’s economic performance during 2021, saying: "The emir-ate’s wise leadership has closely monitored the developments of the pandemic, and has taken the necessary actions to protect the impacted sectors to ensure a safe and stable transition to the post-Covid-19 phase. This was instrumental to maintain a rapid recovery of the economy and to achieve record growth rates."

"The performance of Abu Dhabi's economy, that made rapid strides for diversification, shows that it is moving from strength to strength, benefiting from a prudent administration that learns from past experiences in its endeavors to optimize opportunities. Although oil continues to be important mainstay for Abu Dhabi economy, the emirate pursues an ambitious strategy for diversification of the economic base and income sources to support its sustainable development plans."

Ahmed Mahmoud Fikri, director-general of Scad, said this strong growth in key economic activities confirms that Abu Dhabi has successfully navigated through the Covid-19 pandemic and is rapidly recovering from the repercussions, which stands in testimony to the sound planning, excellent performance, and the leadership’s clear vision, and proactive response to challenges, as seen in the massive and diverse stimulus packages it launched, with a significant and direct impact on the speed of economic recovery.

Oil & non-oil GDP shares

According to the data released by Scad, the mining and quarrying activity (includes crude oil and natural gas) contributes approximately 50.3 per cent of Abu Dhabi's real GDP in 2021.

On the other hand, the non-oil activities contribute 49.7 per cent of the GDP at constant prices in 2021, despite the remarkable rise of world prices during the same period. The growth proves the remarkable progress Abu Dhabi has made to diversify its economic base and sources of income in line with its ambitious strategic plans.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com