The OPEC member’s imports rose 9.8 percent year-on-year to
40.9 billion dirhams ($11 billion) in August, a sharp rise after a 0.9 percent
slump in the previous month, preliminary data from the UAE Federal Customs
Authority (FCA) showed.
Exports without crude soared 91.7 percent to 9.1 billion
dirhams, after a 23.7 percent increase in July, while growth in re-exports
accelerated to 21.5 percent.
“Demand is picking up very gradually. The UAE have
structural constraints which mean that the recovery in domestic demand will be
weaker than in other GCC countries,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at EFG
Hermes in Dubai.
India, China and the United States topped the list of
exporting countries to the UAE, while in the field of non-oil exports, Norway,
India and Switzerland were the main importing countries from the UAE. India,
Iran and Iraq ranked as the highest re-exporting countries.
In a Reuters poll in Sept, analysts raised their forecasts
for UAE economic growth this year to 2.4 percent after state-owned Dubai World sealed
a $24.9 billion deal, easing concerns about Dubai’s debt woes.
The Customs Authority did not release figures for oil
exports.
The UAE booked a trade surplus of $16 billion last year with
exports and imports down 15.8 percent and 11.9 percent respectively from 2008
as the global crisis hit the second-largest Arab economy. The country expects
the trade surplus for 2010 to be 15 percent higher.