By Maria Kalamatas | August 5, 2025
Abu Dhabi, August 5 — There was no special event. No minister behind a podium. Just a few quiet pages in a government report released early Monday, showing something many economists had been sensing: Abu Dhabi’s non-oil trade is climbing fast. And not by a little.
Between January and June this year, the emirate’s non-oil trade reached AED 195.4 billion. That’s nearly 35 percent more than the same period last year.
“It’s not a surprise for us,” said an official at Khalifa Port, speaking off the record. “What’s surprising is that it’s being noticed now.”
It’s not oil — and that’s the point
The Gulf has always leaned on hydrocarbons. But this shift tells a different story. Machinery, metals, electronics, food — they’re filling containers that once depended mostly on crude-related goods.
China, Saudi Arabia, and the US remain major partners, but there’s a clear uptick in trade with Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. Port workers report more mixed cargo. Less bulk, more value.
“You’re seeing pallets of smartphones where there used to be pipes,” one customs officer said, half-smiling.
Ports under pressure, but adapting fast
Khalifa Port and Zayed Port are absorbing the pressure. Trucks are moving quicker. Customs teams are staying late. Warehouses are fuller than usual for August.
It’s not chaos, though. Operators say the ports were designed with this transition in mind. Automation, added lanes, new scanners — it’s been slowly coming together over the past two years.
One logistics manager at a regional freight firm described it bluntly: “We’re seeing volume we expected in 2026 — and it’s here now.”
A different kind of wealth
Non-oil exports include steel, aluminum, and plastic goods. But imports tell another story: food products, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors. The patterns suggest a region preparing not just to build, but to stabilize.
Some of this is driven by policy. Some by necessity. Diversification isn’t just a goal anymore — it’s an adjustment.
“You look at the docks now,” said a supply chain analyst based in Dubai, “and you see a city getting ready for the next ten years, not the last ten.”
The bigger picture
Investors are watching. Fast-moving consumer goods companies are expanding their presence. Logistics parks outside Abu Dhabi are filling up. And several regional freight players have quietly added routes through UAE’s eastern corridors.
What used to be a stopover between oil terminals is now a node in real supply chains — ones built for speed, not scale alone.
Nobody’s calling it a revolution. But make no mistake: something important is underway.
