Economy

Imports
$378 billion (2023). Gold ($70.1B), Telephones ($36.6B), Cars ($23.4B), Refined Petroleum ($20.1B), and Diamonds ($16.1B), importing mostly from China ($71.7B), India ($31.4B), United States ($25.6B), Saudi Arabia ($12.6B), and Japan ($12.2B).
In 2023, United Arab Emirates was the world’s largest importer of Tug Boats ($1.06B), Used Clothing ($242M), Pitch Coke ($223M), and Bitumen and asphalt ($140M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 84.6% have an account with a financial institution
• 26.8% have a credit card
• 13.3% have a mobile money account
• 60% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
Very easy to conduct business (rated 80.9 out of 100) 1st out of 20 Northern African and Middle Eastern countries, 16th out of 190 countries worldwide (2023, World Bank).

Exports
$367 billion (2023). Crude Petroleum ($99.4B), Refined Petroleum ($51.3B), Gold ($47B), Telephones ($16.2B), and Petroleum Gas ($13.2B). exporting mostly to China ($41.8B), India ($38.1B), Japan ($37.4B), Iraq ($22.6B), and Saudi Arabia ($18B).
In 2023, United Arab Emirates was the world’s largest exporter of Sulphur ($826M), and Limestone ($691M).

Economic freedom
‘Mostly free’ (rated 71.6 out of 100) ranked 1st out of 14 Middle Eastern countries ranked 23rd out of 184 countries worldwide (2024, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 3rd out of 18 Northern African and
Western Asian countries, 32nd out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Media

Media language Arabic

Information channels
The UAE is a regional and international centre for TV and media, alongside Egypt and Lebanon. Dubai Media City and twofour54, Abu Dhabi’s media zone, were set up to attract industry players. The UAE is home to major pan-Arab broadcasters, including Saudi-owned MBC and OSN. Sky News Arabia operates from Abu Dhabi. The presence of millions of expatriates adds variety to the media scene, which caters for Arab, English-speaking and South Asian audiences. Most domestic UAE media outlets are run by state-owned Abu Dhabi Media and Dubai Media Incorporated.

Self – Censorship

The constitution provides for freedom of speech but there is strong regulatory and political control of media content. Publications must be licensed and follow official guidelines on reporting. Foreign publications are censored before distribution. Journalists tend to practise self-censorship. Extensive, automated filtering is in place at ISP level. Targeted content includes opposition politics and religion. Legislation bans the dissemination of online material that can threaten “public order” and envisages prison terms for those who “deride or damage” the reputation of the state and “display contempt” for religion.

The press

Al-Bayan – Arabic daily, Dubai government-owned
Gulf News – Dubai-based, English-language
Khaleej Times – private, Dubai-based daily, English-language
Emirates 24/7 – English-language online publication
The National – Abu Dhabi-based English-language daily

Television

Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) – Dubai government-owned pan-Arab broadcaster, operates Dubai TV, Dubai One
Abu Dhabi TV – pan-Arab broadcaster
Ajman TV
Sharjah TV
MBC – Dubai-based pan-Arab broadcaster
OSN – Dubai-based pan-Arab multichannel platform
Al-Arabiya – pan-Arab news channel operated by MBC, English-language web pages
Sky News Arabia – Abu Dhabi-based pan-Arab network

Radio

Abu Dhabi Media Company – operates Abu Dhabi FM and other networks
Radio Asia – commercial, broadcasts in Hindi, Urdu and Malayalam
Al-Arabiya FM – commercial, Arabic pop
Dubai 92 – commercial, English-language pop
City 1016 – commercial, programmes in English and Urdu

News agency

Emirates News Agency (WAM) – official

Internet Data

Internet users
99% penetration, 11.3 million.

Share of web traffic by device
80.40% mobile phones, 18.96% computers (laptops and desktops), 0.62% tablet devices, others 0.01%.

Average speed of mobile Internet connection
614.42 Mbps

Average speed of fixed Internet connection
327.56 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 202%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 100%

Most popular web search engines
Google (96.1%), Bing (2.77%), Yandex (0.44%), Yahoo! (0.32%), DuckDuckGo (0.23%), Petal Search (0.04%), Mail.ru (0.03%), other (0.07%).

Most used social media
Facebook (65.93%), Instagram (14.77%), X (12.94%), YouTube (3.08%), Pinterest (2.10%), LinkedIn (0.77%), Reddit (0.21%), other (0.20%).

Social statistics

Life expectancy
83 yrs (2023)

Corruption perceptions Index
United Arab Emirates scored 67 out of 100, ranked 27 out of 180 countries worldwide.

Current health expenditure
4.68% of GDP

CO2 emissions
21.36 metric tons per capita

Gender
Women’s rights in the UAE are often contradictory. It is ranked first for gender equality in the Gulf and 49th worldwide. Despite this the UAE are still a muslim country, thus women are completely dependent from their “legal guardian” in some cases. For example a guardian can legally withhold a woman’s passport and prevent her from traveling.

When it comes to marriages men can unilaterally divorce women. Men are also in advantageous position in the custody of the children.

Female genital mutilation is a banned practice in all state hospitals and clinics, but it is still practiced in rural areas of the country.

World Happiness Index
United Arab Emirates ranked 21 out of 147 countries, with a score of 6.759.

Current education expenditure
79.5% of total expenditure in public institutions

Cultural Curiosities
The first name is the personal name followed by “ibn” which means son of and the name of the father, then followed again by “ibn” meaning the name of the father of his father. This is then followed by the family name. The same applies to women but with the word “bint”, which means daughter of. 

Showing the sole of your shoes, pointing your feet towards others, or even touching someone else with your feet is considered extremely rude. 

As in many muslim countries, the left hand is considered unclean and should not be used for offering food.

Strictly speaking, you are not allowed to share private space, e.g. a flat, hotel room, or even a car, together with a person of the opposite sex to whom you are not married or otherwise closely related. While this rule is not necessarily rigorously enforced for non-Muslims — e.g. some hotels allow shared rooms for unmarried couples — it is important that you are aware of the potential for offense. Avoid any displays of affection in public, from kissing to holding hands — the latter is tolerated among married couples, and common between men, though.