Non-oil business activity soared in the UAE last month, due to an acceleration in new order growth, according to the findings of a business survey on Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers' Index increased to 56.6 in April from 55.9 in March, a six-month high, indicating additional improvement in the non-oil economy.

Furthermore, the sub-index for new orders rose to 59.9 in April from 56.2 the month before, the fastest rate of growth in new business since November 2021, predominantly due to domestic demand, Reuters news agency reports.

“The UAE PMI rose for the third month running in April to signal an even stronger rate of expansion across the non-oil economy, driven by rapidly increasing new orders and retreating inflationary pressures,” said senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, David Owen.

“Efforts to improve services and boost marketing also underlined growth, according to panellists, and supported a robust expansion in activity,” he added.

In addition, the output sub-index increased to 62.7 in April, up from March’s 62.2 and the highest pace of growth since October last year. However, even though employment activity weakened from March, the sub-index remained over 50, showing job growth remained.

According to a Reuters poll of 16 economists, the UAE economy will grow 3.7% this year and 4.0% in 2023, considerably lower than last year’s 7.6% figure.

The UAE is currently undergoing an economic transformation plan to diversify revenue into non-oil activities, as well as becoming a global trade and logistics hub.

Moreover, the rapid increase in the pace of new order growth bolstered business confidence within firms in regard to the outlook over the next year.