Dubai non-oil sector surges to 8-month high in April

Dubai non-oil sector surges to 8-month high in April

Upswing in travel, tourism, wholesale and retail sectors help boost economy

Shoppers at a mall in Dubai. The emirate's business conditions grew at one of the fastest rates since mid-2019. — KT file

Published: Tue 9 May 2023, 6:53 PM

An upswing in travel, tourism, wholesale and retail sectors helped send Dubai’s non-oil business to an eight-month high in April as activity levels gained further momentum.

“A surge in sales momentum in the travel and tourism and wholesale and retail sectors helped send the Dubai PMI to an eight-month high, signalling a robust improvement in the health of the non-oil economy,” said David Owen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In the first quarter of 2023, Dubai welcomed 4.67 million international overnight visitors compared to 3.97 million tourists during the same period in 2022. According to Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), the numbers mark the city’s best quarter-one performance since the pandemic. Dubai recorded 14.36 million international visitors in 2022, closer to the 16.73 million tourists in 2019, according to DET statistics. Dubai Airports forecasts the number of passengers that will pass through Dubai International Airport by the end of this year will reach 78 million, up from 66.1 million last year.

Dubai’s