UAE's non-oil foreign trade grew 23% in 2011

Abu Dhabi, July 3, 2012 (WAM) - The UAE's non-oil foreign trade grew 23% or Dh173.3 billion in 2011 to Dh927.6 billion from Dh 754.4 billion in 2010, official figures showed. Figures released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said imports surged to Dh602.8 billion in 2011 from Dh485.4 billion in 2010, an increase of 24.2%, while exports saw a growth of 37.2% from Dh83.1 billion in 2010 to Dh114 billion in 2011. Re-exports soared 13.4% to Dh210.8 billion in 2011 from Dh185.9 billion in 2010. In terms of imports, East Asian countries emerged as top suppliers with India having the lion share of 17.1%. China and US took the second and third place at 10.3% 8.5% respectively. India came in the first place as a key market to UAE non-oil exports accounting for 33.7% , followed by Switzerland (16.2%) and Saudi Arabia (5.4%). India also remained the top market for UAE's re-exports taking 28.1% of total re-export goods and commodities. Iran and Iraq came second and third at 17% and 8.2% respectively. – Emirates News Agency, WAM