World Bank expects UAE's non-oil economy to grow by 4.8% in 2023

The World Bank expects the UAE's real GDP to grow by 2.8% at the end of this year, with the non-oil sector expected to achieve strong growth of 4.8% due to strong domestic demand, especially in the tourism, real estate, construction, transport and manufacturing sectors.

The bank said at a press conference held in Dubai today to announce the Gulf Economic Update Report, entitled "The Health and Economic Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)", that the balance of the current account in the UAE is expected to rise to 11.7% in 2023, and the report predicted that the UAE will achieve a fiscal surplus of 6.2% in 2023.

According to the report, the GCC economy is expected to grow by 2.5% in 2023 and 3.2% in 2024, following a remarkable growth in GDP in the region of 7.3% in 2022, due to a strong increase in oil production.

The report estimated that the non-oil GCC economies grew at a strong rate expected to reach 4.6 percent in 2023, due to private consumption, fixed investment, and fiscal easing in response to relatively high oil revenues in 2023.

The World Bank report noted that improved business climate and competitiveness, and overall improvements in women's labor force participation in the GCC, helped achieve the desired returns.