Abu Dhabi’s GDP growth up 12.9% in 4th quarter

ABU DHABI: The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), at current prices, for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, increased by 12.9 per cent in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018 compared with the same period in 2017, according to estimates released by Abu Dhabi Statistics Centre (SCAD).

In 2018, SCAD estimated the GDP, at current prices, grew by 14.5 per cent to Dhs931.2 billion from Dhs813.6 billion in 2017 while GDP, at constant 2007 prices, rose 2 per cent to Dhs797.3 billion from Dhs782 billion in 2017.

This increase in economic activity could mainly be attributed to the value added by oil activities, which rose by 33.0 per cent. At the same time, the value added by non-oil activities increased by 1.6 per cent in Q4, 2018 following an annual growth rate of 2.1 per cent in Q3, 2018. The contribution of non-oil activities to total GDP at current prices decreased from 64.1 per cent in the Q4, 2017 to 57.7 per cent in the Q4, 2018, SCAD noted. Compared with the previous quarter, the GDP at current prices increased by 2.3 per cent in Q4, 2018. The value added by oil activities, which rose by 2.5 per cent, contributed most to this increase. Non-oil activities recorded an increase of 2.1 per cent in Q4, 2018 compared with the Q3, 2018.

GDP measured at constant prices increased by 3.7 per cent in the Q4, 2018, compared with Q4, 2017. The value added at constant prices of non-oil activities decreased by 1.1 per cent while oil activities increased by 8.9 per cent. As a result, the contribution of non-oil activities to total GDP at constant prices decreased from 52.4 per cent in Q4, 2017 to 50.0 per cent in the same period of 2018.

Compared with the previous quarter, the GDP at constant prices increased by 2.2 per cent in Q4, 2018. The value added by oil activities increased by 3.2 per cent, while non-oil activities recorded an increase of 1.2 per cent in Q4, 2018 compared with Q3, 2018. The value added by the ‘Non-financial’ sector increased by 14.3 per cent from Dhs178,628 million in Q4, 2017 to Dhs204,213 million in Q4, 2018. Its contribution to total GDP was 83.0 per cent in Q4, 2017 and 84.1 per cent in Q4, 2018.

The value added by the ‘Financial companies’ sector increased by 9.0 per cent from Dhs18,912 million in Q4, 2017 to Dhs20,620 million in Q4, 2018. Its contribution to total GDP decreased from 8.8 per cent in Q4, 2017 to 8.5 per cent in Q4, 2018. The value added by the ‘General government’ sector increased by 1.8 per cent from Dhs16,219 million in Q4, 2017 to Dhs16,519 million in Q4, 2018. Its contribution to total GDP decreased from 7.5 per cent to 6.8 per cent over the same period.

The value added by the ‘Household’ sector increased by 8.0 per cent from Dhs1,437 million in Q4, 2017 to Dhs1,552 million in Q4, 2018. Its contribution to total GDP decreased from 0.7 per cent to 0.6 per cent over the same period.

Quarterly GDP at current prices measures the value of products and services produced by the economy during a given quarter after deducting the intermediate goods and services consumed as inputs in the production processes. GDP at current prices consists of two components, a price and a volume (or quantity).

WAM