Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade climbed to a record Dh1.937 trillion ($527.4 billion) in the first half of 2026, up 13.1 per cent year-on-year, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced in a post on X as the country’s four-year-old trade pact with India continued to underpin the growth.
Exports hit an all-time high
Non-oil exports rose 23.9 per cent year-on-year to a record Dh452.8 billion, lifting their share of the UAE’s total foreign trade to 23.4 per cent from 21.3 per cent a year earlier. Trade with partners under the UAE’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) reached Dh304.3 billion in the same six months.
Sheikh Mohammed called the half-year performance “historic,” saying the country’s non-oil trade had come within reach of the Dh2 trillion mark for the first time in a six-month period. “These figures are not merely trade data,” he wrote.
“They reflect the strength of our economy, the effectiveness of our development choices and the world’s confidence in the UAE.”
The first-half tally builds on Dh1.728 trillion recorded over the same period last year, and is 39.6 per cent higher than H1 2024 and 78.8 per cent above H1 2022, according to the figures cited in the announcement.
India remains a CEPA anchor
Among the UAE’s roughly 27 CEPA partners, India remains one of the most consequential. The India-UAE CEPA, in force since May 2022, pushed two-way trade to $101.25 billion in India’s 2025-26 fiscal year, crossing the $100 billion mark for a second consecutive year, according to figures cited by India’s commerce ministry.
Non-oil trade now accounts for close to two-thirds of that total.
The relationship has kept expanding beyond goods. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Abu Dhabi on May 15, 2026, produced fresh agreements on strategic petroleum reserves, LPG cooperation, defence and maritime infrastructure, alongside roughly $5 billion in fresh UAE investment commitments into India.
The two governments have set a joint target of $200 billion in bilateral trade by 2032, double the current run-rate.
India is the UAE’s second-largest trading partner
It accounts for close to 9 per cent of the Gulf state’s total trade, while the UAE ranks as India’s second-largest trading partner as well, and its seventh-largest source of foreign direct investment.
The UAE has been actively widening its CEPA network — including deals with Turkey and Indonesia — as part of a broader push to diversify away from oil revenue.
With Bharat Mart, a 2.7-million-square-foot Indian trade and logistics hub linked to Jebel Ali Port, Al Maktoum Airport and Etihad Rail, expected to open in 2026, officials on both sides say the India corridor is likely to remain one of the biggest contributors to the UAE’s non-oil trade numbers through the rest of the year.
