The UAE has maintained its position as the lowest-risk nation in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region in Q2.

This is according to data and analytics firm GlobalData’s second-quarter global risk report.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain held the third, fourth, fifth and ninth positions quarter-on-quarter, according to the report.

Furthermore, the MEA maintained its status as the highest-risk region between April and June, scoring 53.5 out of 100, surpassing all other regions, despite a slight decline from 54.4 in Q1 2023.

The report highlights the uncertainties facing economic growth within the MEA region, predominantly stemming from a global economic slowdown, a fall in oil production and continuing food security issues, Zawya reports.

The difficulties have been exacerbated by heatwaves in the Middle East and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Africa.

The marginal fall in the risk reading was fuelled by strong growth in the non-oil sector, propelled by a boost to tourism and construction activities. 

Non-oil activities in Saudi Arabia showed robust annual growth of 6.1% in Q2 2023, whilst in the UAE, there was an average annual growth rate of 7.8% in non-oil activities in the first half of the year.

Within the quarterly report, which assessed 56 countries in the MEA region, two were in the very low-risk zone, five were in the low-risk zone, 14 countries were under manageable risk, 20 were under high risk, and 15 countries in the very high-risk zone, the Zawya report adds.

The forecasts signal a significant slowdown in the GCC nations’ growth, according to Senior Economic Research Analyst at GlobalData, Bindi Patel, falling from 6.5% in 2022 to 2.1% this year. 

“The deceleration is primarily attributed to the anticipated contraction of the hydrocarbon sector, driven by oil production cuts,” she stated.