Abu Dhabi says 2010 nominal GDP rose 15.9 percent

Abu Dhabi says 2010 nominal GDP rose 15.9 percent

Abu Dhabi GDP at AED620.2 billion in 2010 vs AED546.5 billion in 2009; Oil made up 49.7 percent of Abu Dhabi GDP in 2010; Average crude production at 2.3 million bpd in 2010 - Reuters

July 26, 2011 11:41 by Reuters

Abu Dhabi’s nominal gross domestic product jumped 15.9 percent in 2010, data showed on Tuesday. This figure accounts for most of the country’s oil wealth, rebounded from the global financial crisis supported by higher oil prices and growth in the non-oil sectors.

Nominal GDP of AED620.2 billion ($168.9 billion) for 2010, was up from AED546.5 billion in 2009 and AED666.7 billion in 2008, according to data from the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi.
It did not give real growth in GDP for Abu Dhabi.

The UAE’s real GDP grew 1.4 percent in 2010 after shrinking 1.6 percent in 2009 due to the global financial downturn. A Reuters poll in June forecast the UAE economy will grow 3.7 percent in real terms in 2011.

The economy of Dubai, the country’s glitzy finance and business hub, expanded by 2.4 percent in 2010, reversing a 2.4 percent contraction the previous year.

“The economy of Abu Dhabi has overcome the impact of the financial crisis, boosting the confidence of both firms and consumers,” the centre said in its 2011 statistical yearbook.

“Supported by its huge financial surpluses, the strong growth in non-oil sectors and activities, high oil prices and other factors, the economy of the emirate was fast to overcome the consequences of this, the global financial crisis,” it said.

The UAE has so far been spared the social uprisings that have swept nearby Bahrain, Oman and Yemen. Abu Dhabi has been watched especially closely as it sits on some 10 percent of global oil reserves.

Oil accounted for 49.7 percent of Abu Dhabi’s GDP in 2010, while non-oil activities and sectors contributed 50.3 percent, achieving a relatively high growth rate of 5.6 percent during 2010, the statistics centre said.

In 2010, average production of crude oil was 2.3 million barrels per day, while natural gas production averaged 4.8 billion cubic feet per day, it said.

Oil reserves stood at 92.2 billion barrels in 2009, while the emirate’s total natural gas reserves were estimated at 212 trillion cubic.

Consumer prices in Abu Dhabi rose by an average of 3.1 percent in 2010, it said.

Its 2030 Economic Vision, Abu Dhabi aims to significantly expand the non-oil sector by 2030 to reach a balance between oil and non-oil trade by 2028. ($1 = 3.673 UAE Dirhams) (Reporting by Martina Fuchs; Editing by Susan Fenton)