Economy

The UAE formally left OPEC on May 1, 2026, ending nearly 60 years of membership and giving ADNOC full freedom to pursue its 5 million barrel-per-day capacity target without quota constraints. With Brent at $106 and Hormuz disrupted, the exit reshapes GCC energy dynamics.

Gulf equity markets posted broad gains on June 10, 2026, with Saudi Arabia's Tadawul rising 1.3% to 11,115 on USD 2 billion in turnover, Dubai DFM gaining 0.9%, Abu Dhabi ADX up 0.8%, and Qatar's QE Index surging 1.9% as ACWA Power climbed 7.7%.

Qatar's economy in 2026 is entering a multi-year growth phase as the North Field LNG expansion approaches first production, GDP growth is projected to exceed 5 per cent from 2027, and new foreign ownership rules have driven a 66 per cent surge in new company formations in Q1 2026.

The UAE's GDP growth forecast has been upgraded to 5% for 2026, as the Ministry of Economy confirms the total number of active companies has surpassed 1.4 million — a 118.7% increase since 2021 — with 250,000 new businesses registered in 2025 alone.

The IMF confirmed a 3.5% GDP growth forecast for Oman in 2026, supported by 1.7% inflation, public debt declining to 33% of GDP, and a 7.5% current account surplus, as the Future Fund Oman signs over AED 1.8 billion in new deals across logistics, renewable energy and technology.

Saudi Arabia's real GDP expanded 3% year-on-year in Q1 2026, with financial services registering the highest sector growth at 5.4% and manufacturing rising 4%, as Vision 2030's economic diversification continues to outperform expectations.

Abu Dhabi real estate in 2026 is outperforming Dubai's property market on four key metrics: transaction volume growth of 39 per cent year-on-year, lower supply overhang, government-backed mega-development projects, and rising population supported by new visa categories driving sustained demand.

Bahrain's economy in 2026 has achieved a milestone that few Gulf states can claim: non-oil sectors now account for 85 per cent of GDP, with financial services contributing 17 per cent and a fintech ecosystem that has evolved from a regulatory sandbox into a system-building powerhouse.

Abu Dhabi's AI investment push — led by MGX, Mubadala, and ADIA — has committed more than $100 billion toward artificial intelligence infrastructure, with co-led investments in Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, and Binance making the emirate one of the most consequential AI investors on the planet.

Kuwait and Oman each posted GDP growth of between 2.6 and 2.9 per cent, with both countries implementing accelerated economic diversification strategies — including Kuwait's fuel reserve expansion and Oman's utility-scale solar-plus-storage projects — to reduce dependence on hydrocarbon revenues.

Dubai's property market recorded Dh176.7 billion in total sales in Q1 2026, across nearly 48,000 transactions, in a performance that underlines why real estate...

The UAE's 2026 federal budget stands at AED 92.4 billion — up 29 per cent from 2025 — as non-oil GDP grew 6.8 per cent and total non-oil foreign trade crossed $1 trillion for the first time in the country's history.