There were ongoing improvements to business activity within Dubai’s non-oil private sector economy in July, registering the fastest output growth in three years.

Thanks to a steep rise in new orders, Dubai’s seasonally adjusted S&P Global purchasing managers’ index edged up to 56.4 last month from 56.1 in June, the best performance since mid-2019. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction.

“Dubai’s non-oil private sector registered the fastest rise in output in three years in July, supported by another solid increase in new business and promotional activity,” stated David Owen, an S&P Global Market Intelligence economist.

Following a robust rebound from the Covid-fuelled slowdown, the growth momentum in Dubai’s economy has continued into 2022, boosted by the travel and tourism sector, and improvements to the property market, The National reports.

Last year, Dubai’s economy grew 6.2% according to data from the Dubai Statistics Centre. In Q1, Dubai’s GDP increased 5.9%, as per government data.

In regard to the property sector in the emirate, the value of property deals more than doubled in 2021 to exceed a 12-year record of sales, bolstered by heightened demand in the secondary real estate market, Property Finder reports.

Moreover, despite the volume of new business falling from June’s three-year peak, it remained strong, according to the S&P Global report. Rising sales were fuelled by businesses offering promotions and discounts within their marketing activities. 

In addition, output once again increased for the 20th consecutive month, with firms registering a significant rise in business activity related to tourism in Dubai. 

There were 7.12 million international visitors to Dubai in the first half of this year, around three times more than the 2.52 million registered in H1 2021, said Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). The figures are moving closer to pre-pandemic levels of 8.36 million visitors in H1 2019.