IMF says Dubai’s economy will grow by 3.3% and Abu Dhabi’s by 4.2% in 2025
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Dubai’s economy will grow by 3.3% and Abu Dhabi’s by 4.2% in 2025. This is mostly because non-oil businesses are doing well, according to the government-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) on Thursday.
IMF Predictions
Jihad Azour, the Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, said in a media briefing with the Dubai International Financial Centre and the IMF that the UAE economy is expected to grow by 4% in 2025.
He explained that the UAE’s strong growth, despite slowdowns in other places, is due to the strong performance of industries other than oil, continued investments in infrastructure, and growth in important sectors like real estate and finance. The IMF also expects growth to rise to 5% in the year after.
The UAE economy grew by 3.9% in 2024, helped by good results from both oil and non-oil sectors.
In 2026, Dubai’s economy is expected to grow by 3.5%, while Abu Dhabi’s economy is expected to grow faster at 5.8%.
GCC Region
Azour mentioned that the countries in the GCC have different economic setups and financial resources, which means they will react differently to global changes.
The IMF lowered its 2025 growth forecast for oil-exporting countries in the region to 2.3%, a big drop from the 4% growth predicted in October.
The IMF also expects oil prices to average $66.9 per barrel this year, nearly $6 less than expected in October, because of more oil being produced by countries outside OPEC+ and weaker demand due to a slowing global economy.
Saudi Arabia’s growth outlook was lowered to 3% this year, down from 4.6% previously expected.
Azour also noted that the Middle East and North Africa region had an average growth of 1.8% in 2024, with growth expected to rise to 2.6% in 2025 and 3.4% in 2026. These forecasts are lower than the ones made in October 2024, which had predicted 4% growth in 2025 and 4.2% in 2026.
Surprising Fact
Iraq faced one of the biggest downgrades, with the IMF now predicting a 1.5% decline in its GDP this year, compared to a 4.1% growth predicted in October.
Published: 2nd May 2025
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