Economy

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.