UAE non-oil trade reaches 1.94 trillion dirhams in the first half of 2026, up 13.1 percent despite the Hormuz crisis

The United Arab Emirates' non-oil foreign trade rose 13.1 percent year on year to 1.94 trillion dirhams (about 527 billion dollars) in the first six months of 2026. The figures, published on 19 July 2026, brought half-year trade close to the 2 trillion dirham mark for the first time. The total was 39.6 percent higher than in the first half of 2024 and 78.8 percent above the same period in 2022.

The main engine of growth was non-oil exports, which rose 23.9 percent to 452.8 billion dirhams and lifted their share of total non-oil trade to 23.4 percent from 21.3 percent a year earlier. China remained the UAE's largest trading partner at 180.7 billion dirhams, followed by Switzerland at 138.4 billion and India at 107.5 billion. The International Monetary Fund projects the UAE economy will grow 5 percent in 2026, with non-hydrocarbon sectors expanding 4.6 percent.

The figures were recorded despite the regional war and the disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE is Iran's most important trade and re-export corridor, so the state of its trade bears directly on the costs and routing faced by Iranian importers.