Oil dominates Abu Dhabi's economy

Oil and gas contributed 58.5 per cent of Abu Dhabi's GDP in 2011, dwarfing other industries, the emirate's Department of Economic Development said in the most recently released section of the Abu Dhabi Economic Report 2011. Construction and building contributed about 10 per cent to GDP in the year. Manufacturing contributed 5 per cent. Agriculture, forestry and fishing contributed 0.6 per cent. The contribution of oil and gas was boosted by ballooning oil prices, which jumped by nearly 40 per cent from a year earlier. The report said the value added in the oil and gas industry jumped to Dh471.8 billion (USUS$128.44bn) in 2011 from Dh291.5bn in 2006, an average annual growth rate of 10.1 per cent. The rate hit 53 per cent in 2011 because of high oil prices. The value added in the manufacturing industry rose to Dh40.5bn in 2011 from Dh32.9bn five years earlier - an average annual growth rate of 4.2 per cent. For 2011 alone, the growth rate was 22 per cent, driven by the efforts of the Abu Dhabi Government to develop the sector, according to its 2030 plan to diversify the economy. The worth of physical assets belonging to the manufacturing industry rose to Dh34.4bn in 2011 from Dh9.6bn in 2006 thanks to a boom in investment. Emal's aluminium smelter complex at Taweelah and Strata's air-parts manufacturing plant in Al Ain were built during this period. Agriculture, forestry and fishing contributed value added of Dh4.8bn in 2011, up an average of 1.9 per cent a year since 2006, when the sector contributed value added of Dh4.4bn. From: The National