About

Overview In 2022, United Arab Emirates was the number 28 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), the number 18 in total exports, the number 21 in total imports, the number 16 economy in terms of GDP per capita (current US$) and the number 54 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) .

Exports The top exports of United Arab Emirates are Crude Petroleum ($105B), Refined Petroleum ($57.9B), Gold ($32.8B), Broadcasting Equipment ($17.7B), and Petroleum Gas ($16.2B), exporting mostly to India ($51B), Japan ($40.9B), China ($32.5B), Saudi Arabia ($27.8B), and Iraq ($21.2B).

In 2022, United Arab Emirates was the world's biggest exporter of Rolled Tobacco ($4.4B), Documents of title (bonds etc) and unused stamps ($1.47B), and Limestone ($679M)

Imports The top imports of United Arab Emirates are Gold ($57.1B), Broadcasting Equipment ($20.3B), Refined Petroleum ($19.5B), Diamonds ($17.5B), and Cars ($12.9B), importing mostly from China ($57.7B), India ($31.6B), United States ($18.7B), United Kingdom ($11.5B), and Saudi Arabia ($8.82B).

In 2022, United Arab Emirates was the world's biggest importer of Tug Boats ($453M) and Nutmeg, mace and cardamons ($145M)

Location United Arab Emirates borders Oman and Saudi Arabia by land and Iran and Qatar by sea.

Latest Trends

Latest Trade

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Y-AXIS SCALE

The following section uses the most recent trade data from partners of United Arab Emirates.

Disclaimer: data is presented based on availability and only countries that use the harmonized system are being shown.

* Trade values are converted to USD using each month's exchange rate. For December 2023 data, the exchange rate from December 30, 2023 is used.

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Latest Data

Flow
Color
Depth

The data obtained is mirror data. The trade of countries that do not report current data can be reconstructed based on data reported by partner countries with current data available.

*All data is converted to USD using January 2020 exchange rates when data is reported in local currency.

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Historical Data

Yearly Trade

Flow
Color
Depth
Top Export (2022)Crude Petroleum$105B
Top Destination (2022)India$51B

In 2022, United Arab Emirates exported a total of $402B, making it the number 18 exporter in the world. During the last five reported years the exports of United Arab Emirates have changed by $177B from $225B in 2017 to $402B in 2022.

The most recent exports are led by Crude Petroleum ($105B), Refined Petroleum ($57.9B), Gold ($32.8B), Broadcasting Equipment ($17.7B), and Petroleum Gas ($16.2B). The most common destination for the exports of United Arab Emirates are India ($51B), Japan ($40.9B), China ($32.5B), Saudi Arabia ($27.8B), and Iraq ($21.2B).

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Exports (2022)
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Destinations (2022)
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Market Growth

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Fastest Growing Export Markets (2021 - 2022)
Japan$16B (+ 64.2%)
China$8.73B (+ 36.8%)
India$8.04B (+ 18.7%)
Fastest Growing Import Markets (2021 - 2022)
China$11.5B (+ 25%)
India$6.77B (+ 27.3%)
United States$3.77B (+ 25.3%)

Total Export Growth by Market (2021 - 2022)

Service Trade

Service Trade

United Arab Emirates Exports Services (2015)$27.2B
United Arab Emirates Imports Services (2015)$24.4B

In 2015, United Arab Emirates exported $27.2B worth of services. The top services exported by United Arab Emirates in 2015 were Travel ($16B), Transportation ($10.3B), and Government services, n.i.e. ($871M).

The top services imported by United Arab Emirates in 2015 were Travel ($15.1B), Transportation ($8.06B), and Government services, n.i.e. ($1.2B).

Service Exports (2015)

Service Imports (2015)

Economic Complexity

Overview

Economic Complexity (Trade)0.15Rank 54 of 124
Economic Complexity (Technology)-0.027Rank 50 of 96
Economic Complexity (Research)-0.2Rank 64 of 135

Most Specialized Products by RCA Index

United Arab Emirates has a high level of specialization in Limestone (34.1), Documents of title (bonds etc) and unused stamps (22.6), Rolled Tobacco (10.8), Sulphur (9.2), and Cast Iron Pipes (7.8). Specialization is measured using RCA, an index that takes the ratio between United Arab Emirates observed and expected exports in each product.

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

The top export opportunities for United Arab Emirates according to the relatedness index, were Raw Cotton (0.16), Wheat Flours (0.16), Other Oily Seeds (0.16), Crustaceans (0.16), and Cassava (0.16). Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product. The barchart show only products that United Arab Emirates is not specialized in.

Product Space

The product space is a network connecting products that are likely to be co-exported. The product space can be used to predict future exports, since countries are more likely to start exporting products that are related to current exports. Relatedness measures the distance between a product, and all of the products a country currently specializes in.

Relatedness Space

This network shows the products most related to the production structure of United Arab Emirates. These are products that tend to be co-exported with the products that United Arab Emirates exports. Higher relatedness values ​​indicate greater knowledge, which predicts a greater probability of exporting that product in the future.

Diversification Frontier

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Depth

The Complexity-Relatedness diagram compares the risk vs strategic value of a country's potential export oppotunities. Relatedness is predictive of the probability that a country increases its exports in a product. Complexity, is associated with higher levels of income, economic growth, less income inequality, and lower greenhouse emissions.

Economic Complexity Ranking

Methodology
Scale

During the last 20 years United Arab Emirates's⁩ ⁨economy has become relatively more complex, moving from the ⁩⁨68th to the 54th⁩ position in the ECI rank.

These economic complexity rankings use 6 digit exports classified according to the HS96 classification. We consider only countries with population of at least 1 million and exports of at least $1 billion, and products with world trade over $500 million. To explore different rankings and vary these parameters visit the custom rankings section.

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ECI (Trade) Ranking by Country

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