The UAE’s current account surplus jumped nearly 31 percent to AED244.4bn ($66.5bn) in 2012 from the previous year as hydrocarbon exports rose, preliminary central bank data showed on Tuesday.
The surplus accounted for around 17.3 percent of the oil exporter’s 2012 gross domestic product, according to a Reuters calculation based on the official data.
Analysts polled by Reuters in April expected the UAE current account surplus to shrink to 7.3 percent of GDP in 2013 and 5.0 percent in 2014.
Earlier this month, official figures showed economic growth in the UAE accelerated to 4.4 percent in inflation-adjusted terms in 2012 from a downwardly revised 3.9 percent the previous year as activity picked up across all sectors.
“One of the most important factors is the role played by good and stable oil prices in general over the last year,” the National Bureau of Statistics in the OPEC member said in a data commentary.
“All economic activities saw positive improvement in their growth rates in 2012, which has positively reflected on the value of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product),” it said.
Oil prices averaged $112 per barrel last year, up from $109 in 2011, the office said, adding that the non-oil sector share on the Gulf country’s real GDP was estimated at 67.3 percent in 2012.
Analysts polled by Reuters in April forecast GDP growth in the UAE, the second largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia, to slow to 3.3 percent this year.
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