Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has approved the National Programme for Developing the Statistics System in the UAE, a move aimed at sharpening the accuracy of official economic data and reinforcing the country's position among the world's leading economies.
The programme sets 2024 as the unified base year for national accounts and calls for reconstructing the UAE's GDP time series covering 2010 to 2026. Officials say the update will offer a clearer picture of the economy's true size, diversity and growth trajectory while strengthening international comparability of national statistics.
The initiative responds to major structural shifts in the UAE economy, including the rapid expansion of non-oil sectors, services, the digital economy and technology and investment activities. It also draws on new administrative data sources, including figures generated through corporate tax and value-added tax implementation, to better capture the full scope of economic activity.
Built on the UN System of National Accounts and international best practices, the programme introduces a unified national methodology for reviewing GDP data and commits to regularly updating the base year going forward. Future revisions will follow internationally recognised frameworks based on data readiness.
The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre is leading implementation in coordination with local statistics centres across the emirates and federal data providers, including the Central Bank, Ministry of Finance, Federal Tax Authority, Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Emirates Investment Authority and Etihad Water and Electricity Company.
The programme forms part of a broader strategic push to modernise the UAE's statistics infrastructure, encompassing a national statistics strategy, supporting policies, a national data platform, a leadership development programme and the UAE Principles for Official Statistics, all designed to bolster investor confidence and economic decision-making.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
