Dubai Finance Grows 8.8 Percent in the First Half, Lifting Its GDP Share to 14 Percent
Financial and insurance activities in Dubai grew 8.8 percent in real terms in the first half of 2026 to 65.9 billion dirhams, raising their share of the emirate’s GDP to 14 percent from 12.5 percent a year earlier, according to the latest figures from the Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment. GDP at current prices rose 0.2 percent to 505 billion dirhams.
Finance Adds 1.1 Points to Growth as Health and Utilities Expand
Finance made the largest real gain of the activities the release detailed: its value added rose from 60.6 billion dirhams a year earlier, adding 1.1 percentage points to growth on the first half of 2025, on our calculation. Health and social work grew most quickly of those activities, by 14.3 percent in real terms, while utilities, information and communication and construction grew more slowly.
Dubai’s expanding activities, first half of 2026
| Activity | Real growth | Constant prices, AED bn | Current-price growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health and social work | 14.3% | 6.2 | 16.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 8.8% | 65.9 | 8.1% |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste | 5.4% | 10.2 | 7.4% |
| Information and communication | 2.7% | 24.7 | 1.6% |
| Construction | 2.4% | 33.2 | 8.6% |
Growth against the first half of 2025. Values as published by the source, which rounds them. At current prices, finance generated 64 billion dirhams, utilities 10.6 billion and construction 35.3 billion. Government services grew 2.9 percent at constant prices and 5.7 percent at current prices; education 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent.
Taken together, finance, health, utilities and information and communication, the 4 growing activities for which both years’ values were published, made up 22.6 percent of real GDP in the half against less than 21 percent a year earlier, on our calculation. Finance’s 14 percent share compares with 20.5 percent for wholesale and retail trade, 11.8 percent for real estate and 10.7 percent for transport and storage. Those 4 activities account for 57 percent of real output, on our calculation.
Construction shows the widest gap between the 2 price measures among the activities in the table: 8.6 percent growth at current prices against 2.4 percent in real terms, an implied price effect of 6.2 points, on our calculation.
The first-quarter release, published in July on the same revised series, put finance’s growth at 6.5 percent and its value added at 32.4 billion dirhams, with a 14 percent share, the same as over the full 6 months. Information and communication grew 2.7 percent in the quarter and in the half, and health 17.5 percent in the first quarter. Total GDP in that quarter was 232 billion dirhams, 2.4 percent higher.
Large-Scale Events Generated 25.03 Billion Dirhams of Output in 2025
Large-scale events at Dubai World Trade Centre generated 25.03 billion dirhams of economic output in 2025, up from 22.35 billion in 2024, according to figures the centre published in June. Of that output, 14.66 billion dirhams was gross value added to Dubai’s GDP, or 59 percent, and the year’s 108 large-scale events averaged 232 million dirhams of output each, on our calculation.
Large-scale events at the centre, 2025
| Measure | 2025 | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Economic output, AED bn | 25.03 | 12% |
| Jobs supported | over 94,000 | 10% |
| Household income, AED bn | over 4.7 | 13.6% |
Large-scale events at the centre’s venues, with 2.18 million attendees by the centre’s count, 44 percent of them from overseas. The 2025 figures were first published in June 2026.
Overseas visitors are the higher spenders. International attendees spent an average of over 9,900 dirhams per event, almost 7 times as much as local attendees, and stayed an average of 5.6 days. Healthcare and medical events led by sector, with 20 events generating 3.73 billion dirhams of value added, 25 percent of the total on our calculation. Direct spending in the sectors around the events reached 13.48 billion dirhams, and accommodation took the largest part.
Direct spending around events by sector, 2025
| Sector | AED bn | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | 3.79 | 28% |
| Travel and transport | 2.98 | 22% |
| Retail trade | 2.55 | 19% |
| Restaurants and food and beverage | 2.1 | over 15% |
| Business entertainment | 1.81 | 13% |
| Government services | 0.252 | 2% |
Direct spending in adjacent sectors, total 13.48 billion dirhams. Shares are our calculation.
The centre’s ambition is to grow the economic contribution to 54 billion dirhams a year by 2033. Capacity is being built for it through the 10 billion dirham expansion of Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City Dubai. Phase 1, delivered in early 2026, took indoor event space to 140,000 square metres with room for 50,000 visitors a day. Phase 2 takes it to 160,000 square metres, and the full expansion, due in 2031, to 180,000 square metres over 1.2 kilometres, with daily capacity for 65,000 visitors and more than 20 events able to run at once. On our calculation that is 28.6 percent more space than after Phase 1 and a 30 percent rise in daily capacity. Gulfood has already more than doubled in size, drawing over 8,500 exhibitors from 195 countries.
Current-Price GDP Grows 0.2 Percent on the Revised Series
Dubai’s GDP series was revised from the start of 2026 to reflect the latest economic surveys and administrative records, so its levels cannot be compared with releases on the earlier basis.
On that revised basis, real GDP for the first half of 2026 came to 473 billion dirhams, a decline of 2.3 percent from 484 billion a year earlier, while current-price GDP rose 0.2 percent, a gap of 2.5 percentage points between the 2 measures on our calculation. Wholesale and retail trade grew 2 percent at current prices, in line with a 4 percent rise in foreign trade, but the release said higher inflation contributed to a 6 percent decline at constant prices, to 96.9 billion dirhams. Transport and storage value added was 50.6 billion dirhams at constant prices, 7.4 percent lower. Real estate rose 5.4 percent at current prices to 65.1 billion dirhams but was 2.5 percent lower in real terms, and manufacturing was 0.9 percent lower at constant prices. Nationally, the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre said tourism, transport and trade were affected in the second quarter by regional developments and disruption to travel.
Federal figures published on 9 October also put finance in front. They put UAE real GDP for the first half at 961.9 billion dirhams, 0.4 percent higher, with non-oil activity up 1.8 percent and financial and insurance activities the fastest growing major activity in the country, at 14.8 percent.
Why it matters: Finance is carrying more of Dubai’s economy: it posted the largest real gain of any activity the release detailed, and its share of real output rose 1.5 points in a year. Health, utilities, information and communication and construction grew alongside it, and current-price GDP stayed in growth. Business events add a further source of spending, led by international attendees who spend almost 7 times as much per event as local ones.
Outlook: Dubai’s final quarter carries a calendar of more than 100 exhibitions, conferences and business events, including GITEX Global and Big 5 Global, while the exhibition centre expansion continues to progress. Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, said the emirate enters the second half “from a position of strength and with clear momentum”. Nationally, the federal centre will publish a comprehensively revised GDP series once the revision results are approved in the first quarter of 2027.
Sources: WAM, Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment, Dubai World Trade Centre, Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, The Edge.
