54th Union Day / UAE Non-stop local achievements and exceptional economic performance
Abu Dhabi, 2 December / WAM / The United Arab Emirates celebrates the 54th Union Day, continuing its journey towards a bright future with more local and global achievements that marked the year 2025, the “Year of Society” under its wise leadership.
The UAE has strengthened its active presence in the international scene, established its position as a significant economic power in the region and the world, and has continued its distinguished contributions in various arenas of humanitarian work, while at the local level, many qualitative achievements have emerged that constitute a new push forward in the process of sustainable development.
(economic growth)
The UAE economy continued to strengthen its position as one of the fastest growing global economies, driven by the momentum of strong performance of non-oil sectors and strategic initiatives that attract investment. The International Monetary Fund expected the UAE economy to grow by 4.8% during the current year, while non-oil foreign trade reached 1.7 trillion dirhams in the first half, a growth rate of 24.5% compared to the first half of the previous year.
The UAE approved the largest federal budget in its history for the year 2026, worth 92.4 billion dirhams, and launched the National Investment Strategy 2031 to raise foreign investments to 240 billion dirhams annually.
Total banking assets exceeded 5.199 trillion dirhams at the end of September 2025, and total credit rose to about 2.478 trillion dirhams for the same period, while the UAE continued the expansion process in concluding comprehensive economic partnerships with many countries of the world.
This year witnessed the launch of the “UAE Global Trade Center” program, which aims to attract 1,000 major international companies and expand UAE export markets through a global digital portal.
(tourist boom)
The tourism and travel sector maintained its brilliance through its qualitative achievements at the level of attraction, revenues and projects, as the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product reached 257.3 billion dirhams, which represents 13% of the national economy.
During the first half of this year, hotel establishments in the country received more than 16.1 million and recorded revenues worth 26.1 billion dirhams, while Abu Dhabi airports, Dubai International Airport, and Sharjah International Airport recorded about 108.59 million passengers until the end of last September.
The UAE achieved a historic achievement with Sheikha Nasser Al Nowais winning the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations Tourism Organization 2026-2029, while the current year witnessed the launch of major tourism and investment projects such as the “Al Tay Hills” project in Sharjah, the second phase of Al Khor Waterfront in Umm Al Quwain, the announcement of the development of Disney World and Resort in Abu Dhabi, and the “Therm Dubai” health and entertainment project.
(development projects)
The pace of development projects that enhance the quality of life and meet the requirements of economic and urban growth in the Emirates has accelerated, including the launch of the high-speed train project between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the announcement of a national plan for road and transportation projects exceeding 170 billion dirhams until 2030, which includes expanding federal roads and raising their efficiency by 73%, establishing the Fourth Federal Road with a capacity of 360,000 trips per day, and laying the foundation stone for the 30-kilometre-long Dubai Metro Blue Line.
The year 2025 featured the announcement of the awarding of contracts for 4 major projects to develop the rainwater drainage system at a cost of 1.439 billion dirhams within the “Drainage” project in Dubai, the inauguration of the airport electrical station in Umm Fannin in Sharjah at a cost exceeding 500 million dirhams, the start of full commercial operation of the Fujairah F3 station with a capacity of 2.4 gigawatts, to supply more than 380,000 homes with electricity, and the launch of the “Dubai Auto Market” development project on an area 22 million square feet, to be the largest of its kind in the world, and the announcement of the construction of a VIP building and hangars for private aircraft at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, and other development projects in various emirates of the country.
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