UAE non-oil trade reached AED 1.94 trillion in six months. What that means for a new company.
Exports set a record, three partners passed AED 100 billion each, and trade with CEPA countries crossed AED 300 billion. The numbers describe the market a company registering this quarter is entering.
The UAE's non-oil foreign trade reached AED 1.937 trillion in the first half of 2026, up 13.1% on the same period a year earlier, according to figures released by the Government of Dubai Media Office on 19 July. The total is 39.6% higher than the first half of 2024 and more than double the level of 2019. Non-oil exports rose 23.9% to AED 452.8 billion, a record, and now make up 23.4% of the total, up from 21.3% a year ago.
Three partners each passed AED 100 billion in the half. China led at AED 180.7 billion, followed by Switzerland at AED 138.4 billion and India at AED 107.5 billion. Trade with the top ten partners grew 12.6%, and trade with the rest of the world grew slightly faster, at 13.6%, which suggests the growth is broad rather than concentrated. Trade with countries covered by Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements reached AED 304.3 billion, with exports to those markets at AED 66.1 billion.
Gold remains the largest single commodity by a wide margin, at AED 706.2 billion, up 48.8%. Telecoms equipment followed at AED 189.7 billion, then gold jewelry, automobiles and diamonds. The top ten commodities account for about two thirds of non-oil merchandise trade. Announcing the figures, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said they were more than trade statistics and a testament to the strength of the economy.
For a founder, headline trade numbers are easy to nod at and hard to use. Three readings are practical. The first concerns the license itself. Trading activities are the most common category for new free zone companies, and the growth in re-exports and in CEPA trade is where a small trading company with a UAE license and a bank account actually earns: buying from one market and selling into another through a hub that both sides already use. Choosing activities that cover the goods actually being moved is a setup decision, not an afterthought, because zones and customs treat them differently.
The second reading is about CEPA. The agreements with India and others lower tariffs for goods moving between the UAE and those markets, and the share of exports in CEPA trade has risen from 19.1% in 2022 to 21.7% now. A company planning to sell into India, Indonesia or Türkiye should check whether its products qualify for CEPA treatment before choosing where to hold inventory.
The third reading is about who is coming. Growth of this kind draws in the professional services that serve traders: logistics, compliance, marketing, design, software. A services company registering now is entering a market where the customers themselves are growing at double digits. That does not make any single business plan work. It does mean the demand side of the plan is not the part to worry about.
The figures cover the first half of the year. The next release, for the full year, will show whether the second half held up through a difficult period for the region. The first half, at least, did not slow.