UAE non-oil business continue strong growth

UAE non-oil business continue strong growth

PMI data show solid improvement to sector's performance

Shoppers at a mall in Dubai. The modest rate of discounting quickened slightly from December and was the fastest for five months, with firms often choosing to offer price promotions in a bid to attract sales. - KT file

Published: Fri 3 Feb 2023, 2:02 PM Last updated: Fri 3 Feb 2023, 2:03 PM

UAE non-oil businesses continued to see a strong expansion at the start of the year, as the seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 54.1 in January, the company said on Friday.

The index, while down fractionally from 54.2 in December, signalled another solid improvement in the sector’s performance at the start of 2023. Output and new orders both rose sharply, whilst robust supply chains and stable energy prices helped to keep input costs settled. Employment and purchasing activity continued to increase.

David Owen, Senior Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “The UAE PMI...continued to signal a robust improvement in business conditions at non-oil companies at the beginning of 2023. Activity levels rose sharply in response to another marked boost in new order inflows. The results showed that the non-oil sector remains in good health and in particular