Aviation fuels Dubai’s GDP

Emirates, Dubai Airports, and other aviation-related businesses contributed $26.7 billion to the Dubai economy in 2013, accounting for nearly 27% of Dubai’s GDP in 2013, according to a study conducted by Oxford Economics. The report, “Quantifying the Economic Impact of Aviation in Dubai,” also found that the aviation industry provides 416,500 jobs, employing 21% of Dubai’s total workforce. The entire report can be found on the Emirates website, but some other findings include:

• Cargo tonnage handled in Dubai between 1990 and 2013 has grown at an average rate of 13.5% per year, compared to global average trade volume growth of 5.6% per year.

• A total of 2.65 million tonnes of cargo was handled at Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central Al Maktoum International (DWC) in 2013, which accounted for about 6.3% of the global total of 42 million tonnes.

• The value of exports carried by Emirates’ SkyCargo in Dubai increased from US$196 million in 2011 to US$243 million in 2013, an average annual growth rate of 11.5%. The corresponding value of imports grew by 7.5% per year since 2011 to reach US$404 million.