Today's Edition
YOUSEF AL ARABI (ABU DHABI) - The value of contract agreements concluded in the UAE grew 53.2% during the first nine months of 2023, reaching about Dh189.59 billion ($51.66 billion) compared to Dh123.75 billion ($33.72 billion), according to data released by the BNC Network.
According to data obtained by Aletihad, the UAE accounted for 43% of the total contracts concluded in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
The contracts concluded in the UAE from January to September of the past year were distributed across five main sectors: industrial facilities, oil and gas projects, transport, real estate, and utilities.
Real Estate Leads
According to data from BNC Network, which specialises in monitoring projects in the Middle East, real estate maintained its lead, accounting for about 60% of the total value of contracts concluded in the UAE from January to September of 2023 after growing 12% to reach Dh114 billion ($31.05 billion) compared to Dh101.4 billion ($27.64 billion) during the same period last year.
Utility projects ranked second in terms of contract value, accounting for 19% of the total contracting agreements in the country over 9 months after the value of contracts concluded in the sector grew by 275% to reach Dh36.15 billion ($9.85 billion), from January to September of the past year, compared to Dh9.65 billion ($2.63 billion) during the same period of the previous year.
Record Growth
The value of contracting agreements concluded in the oil and gas sector in the country increased by 344% to reach Dh30.5 billion ($8.31 billion) compared to Dh6.86 billion ($1.87 billion), accounting for about 16% of the total contracts concluded in the country over nine months.
And the industrial sector’s share of the total value of contracts concluded in the UAE during the first nine months of the current year amounted to about 3%, reaching Dh5.39 billion ($1.47 billion), compared to Dh4.7 billion ($1.23 billion) with a growth of 20%.
As for the transport sector, it accounted for 2% of the contracts concluded in the country after growing by 172% during the first nine months of the current year to reach about Dh3.59 billion (about $1 billion), compared to Dh1.32 billion ($0.36 billion) during the corresponding period of the previous year.
Avi Gidwani, CEO of the BNC Network, told Aletihad: “The performance of contract awards in the United Arab Emirates has been fantastic so far, expecting to end the year at a level similar to what it was in 2018-2019, noting that optimism prevails in the local market about the growth of construction projects in the Emirates during the next year based on the announcement of a series of new projects in the country.”
GCC Contracts
The value of contracts concluded in the GCC countries reached $120.3 billion during the first nine months of 2023, and these construction contracts were distributed as follows: $47 billion for the real estate sector, $38.2 billion for the oil and gas sector, $22 billion for the utilities sector, $9.4 billion for the transport sector, and about $3.24 billion for the industrial sector.
