The non-oil private sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) witnessed its fastest yearly expansion pace in February 2026, as business activity strengthened, backed by a surge in new orders and improving supply conditions.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which rose to 55.0 in February from 54.9 in January, saw positive trends like stronger demand, contract wins, and growth in key sectors such as construction, real estate, logistics and technology, apart from rising tourist arrivals, expansion of e-commerce channels and demand for AI-related products.
“The UAE PMI signalled the strongest growth in non-oil business conditions for a year in February, with output increasing rapidly in response to strong inflows of new work. So far, the data points to an encouraging picture for the domestic economy in Q1,” said David Owen, Senior Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, while interacting with Zawya.
Export sales also recorded modest gains, largely driven by domestic demand. On the employment front, the number of people joining the workforce also rose at the fastest pace since November 2025. While overall business sentiment remained positive, it witnessed a slight dip from January’s high, as firms anticipated strong demand to persist.
Even though job creation hit a two-year high in February 2026, output growth in Dubai’s non-oil activities slightly slowed.
The broader UAE economy expanded steadily during the first nine months of 2025, with GDP reaching about Dh1.4 trillion, supported by continued strength in non-oil sectors and broad-based growth across key industries. Talking about the Gulf country’s non-oil sector, throughout last year, it remained the primary growth driver, expanding 6.1% to exceed Dh1 trillion, while reinforcing the nation’s progress toward building a diversified economic structure.
Breaking down the sector’s growth numbers, financial and insurance activities recorded the strongest expansion at 9%, followed by construction at 8.7%, real estate at 7.9%, and manufacturing at 6.9%.