Not all growth years are the same. A gap of nearly two percentage points above the global average is not read as a temporary improvement, but rather as an indicator that an economy has entered a phase of active expansion at a time when many others are content with less. It appears that 2026, for the UAE, is closer to the second type. While the International Monetary Fund forecasts global growth at around 3.3%, UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri confirmed that the UAE economy is poised to grow by more than 5% this year, with non-oil sectors growing by over 5.5%. These sectors now represent 78% of the country's GDP.
