His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, has approved a new statistical system to track the UAE's rapid economic growth.
The National Programme for Developing the Statistics System comes in response to the structural transformations in the national economy in recent years, most notably the rapid growth of non-oil economic activities, and the expansion of the digital economy, artificial intelligence and investment sectors.
It will set 2024 as the unified base year for national accounts and reconstructing the time series for the GDP of the UAE for the period 2010–2026. This will ensure the accuracy and reliability of official economic stats to provide a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the real size, diversity, and growth momentum of the UAE’s economy.
The move will enable better economic decision-making, advance investor confidence, and consolidate the UAE's standing as a global economic powerhouse.
Mohammed bin Rashid approves the National Programme for Developing the Statistics System in the UAE pic.twitter.com/4tf2SAUlwH
— UAEGOV (@UAEmediaoffice) July 23, 2026
The programme is based on an integrated national framework that's in line with the UN System of National Accounts. This is achieved by updating the base year, expanding data sources, and enhancing the integration of administrative records, ensuring the production of more accurate, consistent, and transparent economic indicators in line with the latest international practices.
In addition, the programme adopts a unified national methodology for reviewing GDP data at the national level. This ensures the sustainable development of the national statistics system and its ability to keep pace with economic transformations.
The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre will be responsible for unifying official statistics across the UAE, through coordination with local statistics centres in all emirates and federal data providers. The partnership includes multiple key national entities, most notably the Central Bank of the UAE, the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Tax Authority, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Emirates Investment Authority, Etihad Water and Electricity Company, and others.
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