Overview of the Strategic National Initiative
In a significant move to bolster economic data reliability, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, has sanctioned the National Programme for Developing the Statistics System in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This initiative aims to refine the quality and international comparability of official economic statistics, thereby fortifying the UAE’s position among leading global economies.
Key Components and Objectives
A Unified Base Year and GDP Reconstruction
Central to the program is the designation of 2024 as the unified base year for national accounts, alongside a comprehensive reconstruction of the time series for the UAE’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2010 to 2026. This reconstruction is expected to offer a more precise reflection of the UAE’s economic scale, diversity, and growth momentum, while enhancing the credibility of the official statistics.
Supporting Decision-Making and Investor Confidence
By improving the accuracy of economic data, the program aims to aid economic decision-making, public policy formulation, and strategic future planning. This initiative is also designed to enhance investor confidence and strengthen the UAE’s appeal as a global economic hub, thereby fostering increased engagement from international financial and economic institutions.
Responding to Economic Transformations
Adapting to Economic Shifts
The program is a response to significant structural changes in the UAE’s economy, notably the swift expansion of non-oil sectors, including services, digital economy, technology, and investments. The initiative also leverages modern administrative data sources, such as those generated through corporate and value-added taxes, to provide more comprehensive coverage and improved measurement accuracy of economic activities.
International Standards and Methodologies
Aligning with the UN System of National Accounts, the program is grounded in an integrated national framework that updates and harmonizes national accounts in line with the best international statistical standards. This involves updating the base year, expanding data sources, and integrating administrative records to produce more accurate, consistent, and transparent economic indicators.
Institutional and Methodological Commitments
Regular Updates and Consistency
The initiative underscores a commitment to regularly updating the base year, adhering to international standards and practices in statistics. It adopts a unified national methodology for reviewing GDP data, ensuring sustainable development of the national statistics system to keep pace with ongoing economic transformations.
Comprehensive National Review and Partnerships
The program includes a thorough review of national accounts, a practice recognized globally and periodically adopted by advanced statistical systems. It seeks to enhance GDP measurement quality by reflecting evolving statistical methodologies and data sources, ensuring alignment with the UAE’s economic growth.
Collaboration Across National Entities
The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre leads this initiative, coordinating with local statistics centers and federal data providers within the national statistics framework. This effort includes collaboration with key entities such as the Central Bank of the UAE, the Ministry of Finance, and the Federal Tax Authority, among others, to develop a comprehensive national economic database.
Conclusion
The National Programme for Developing the Statistics System serves as a strategic umbrella for modernizing the UAE’s statistics system. It encompasses a suite of legislative, institutional, and technical initiatives, including a comprehensive national GDP review, a strategic plan for the statistics system, and policies supporting statistical work. The initiative aims to enhance economic decision-making and bolster the UAE’s competitiveness as a global model in developing and producing official economic statistics.