Dubai Expo helps UAE’s non-oil private sector to expand in September: IHS Markit 

Business conditions in the UAE’s non-oil economy showed robust improvement on the back of rising output and orders, the latest IHS Markit report said.

This improvement is largely driven by the ongoing World Expo in Dubai, which the report said supported recovery in footfall and contracts. 

“With the Expo 2020 beginning, the UAE economy appears to be in a good shape,” David Owen, an economist at the London-based economic intelligence firm, said. 

The report showed the UAE’s Purchasing Managers’ Index falling to 53.3 in September, from 53.8 the previous month. 

But Owen said it “still pointed to a strong improvement in non-oil business conditions, as firms continued to see a recovery in demand from the pandemic.”

The central bank in June had forecast UAE real gross domestic product growth of 2.4 percent this year and 3.8 percent in 2022.