UAE's commercial capital of Dubai remains to be the country's "key driving force" in the exceptional growth of its non-oil GDP (gross domestic product), or the sum of products and services that it produced in a given period.

In its preliminary data released yesterday and sourced from the UAE Ministry of Economy, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) said Dubai accounted for 43 per cent of UAE's non-oil GDP and 28 per cent, or Dh168.78 billion, of the total GDP of Dh599.23 billion in 2006.

"Both the UAE and Dubai are growing with exceptional speed," the DCCI said. It added that the non-oil components - trade and repairing services, financial, real estate, construction manufacturing, and transports, storage and communications, among others - of Dubai GDP have maintained their shares in total GDP.

"In other words, the sectoral structure of Dubai non-oil GDP remained relatively unchanged with the wholesale retail trade and repairing services sector continuing to drive Dubai economy," the DCCI said.



It also said that trade and repairing services contributed 22 per cent or Dh36.19 billion of Dubai GDP last year having increased 16 per cent from DhDh31.28 billion in 2005. An impressive growth in the construction sector was also noted with a 31 per cent increase to Dh21.5 billion in 2006 from Dh16.46 billion the previous year. The country's total GDP on construction jumped to Dh45.12 billion from Dh34.98 billion for the same period.

This brought Dubai's construction sector to equal the size of transport, storage and communication sector, which grew 18 per cent to Dh21.41 billion last year from Dh18.2 billion in 2005. DCCI said the two sectors now generate 13 per cent each of Dubai total GDP. With the boom in construction, the real estate and business services sector also grew, contributing 11 per cent or Dh19.24 billion of Dubai GDP last year compared to 10 per cent or Dh14.23 billion in 2005.

"Interestingly, high inflation rates in the real estate sector will dampen the real income the sector generates as some economists may argue," the DCCI said. It stressed, however, that the decision to set at seven per cent the maximum rent increase in 2006 was supposed to lessen this effect.