Dubai registered a robust increase in its non-oil activities in October as the Purchasing Manager’s Index increased for the second straight month to 57.4 from 56.1 in September.

The rise in non-oil activities, as per the seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE PMI report, was fuelled by mounting demand and growing business confidence.

The PMI measures any changes to employment, output, new orders, delivery times from suppliers and stocks of purchased goods.

The 50-level in the index separates growth from contraction.

The report went on to add that Dubai’s new business intakes have experienced a steep increase since June 2019, Arab News reports.

“Demand momentum in the Dubai non-oil economy is on a steamroll in the latter part of the year, with October PMI data signalling that strong market conditions drove the sharpest rise in new business since June 2019,” according to David Owen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

He went on to say: “The uplift was steered by accelerations in multiple sectors, adding further confidence that non-oil growth will be robust in the fourth quarter.”

As a result of strong trade and tourism, Dubai’s economy grew by an annual 2.8% to Dh111.3 billion ($30.3 billion) in Q1, according to official data published in August.

The economy is forecast to grow by 3.5% in 2023, after 4.4% growth in 2022, says Emirates NBD.

Dubai’s property market is booming, as well as its retail, hospitality and, travel and tourism sectors, The National reports.

Furthermore, fuelling the rise in October’s headline PMI was a faster increase in new business volumes, as firms polled reported new clients and heightened market demand.

The sales growth acceleration was reported throughout the monitored sectors, particularly within wholesale and retail businesses last month, along with travel and tourism service providers.