The UAE was the destination for 56% of all UK exports to the Gulf last year, importing around $7.2 billion worth of goods, a recent report has revealed.
Dubai was responsible for the vast majority of the UAE’s trade, accounting for 80% of imports into the country from Britain, according to the study by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).
Machinery and electrical equipment made up the lion’s share of UK exports to the UAE – just over 60% – while other goods such as prepared foodstuffs and products from allied industries each accounted for 3-5%.
Dubai was also the UAE’s largest exporter to the UK, accounting for 66% of the $2 billion worth of goods Britain imported from the Emirates in 2006, according to DCCI.
UAE exports to the UK consisted of mainly mineral products, machinery and electrical equipment, live animals and precious stones and metals.
The Emirates accounted for approximately a third of the Gulf’s total exports to the UK, which totalled $6.65 billion last year.
Saudi – which exported about $2 billion in goods to the UK and imported around $3.2 billion – was Britain’s second biggest trading partner in the region, followed by Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
Total GCC exports to the UK in 2006 reached $6.65 billion, while total exports from Britain to the GCC amounted to $12.8 billion, leaving the Gulf with a $6.2 billion trade gap.
About 50% of UK’s imports from the GCC during the year consisted of petroleum oil and related products, while 54% of exports were machinery and electrical equipment.
The total value of trade with the GCC accounted for only 1.8% of the UK’s trade globally, and although the GCC is a major world supplier of oil, Britain’s petroleum imports from GCC countries represented barely 6% of its total oil imports.
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