UAE Non-Oil Foreign Trade Reaches AED 1.94 Trillion in H1 2026, Up 13.1% and Nearly 80% Above 2022: Al Zeyoudi at the Hili Forum on Record Exports of AED 453 Billion, 38 CEPAs on Six Continents and Fujairah and Khor Fakkan as Permanent Gateways

2026-09-08

On 8 September 2026, opening the second day of the third Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi, the UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said that the country’s non-oil foreign trade reached a record AED 1.94 trillion (USD 528 billion) in the first half of 2026, 13.1% more than in the first half of 2025 and nearly 80% more than in the same period of 2022, and that non-oil exports hit an all-time high of AED 453 billion (USD 123 billion). The totals match the half-year data released by the government on 19 July 2026 (AED 1.937 trillion and AED 452.8 billion). What was new at the forum was the minister’s account of how the UAE kept goods moving after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz: regional logistics corridors to the Gulf of Oman, UAE-bound cargo handled through Omani ports, an accelerated build-out of Fujairah and Khor Fakkan on the east coast, new pipelines to world markets and a network of 38 comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPAs) with partners on six continents. He described these measures as permanent transformations rather than short-term solutions. This article sets out the verified numbers, the trade route map as it stands in September 2026 and what changes for a company that imports, exports or re-exports through the UAE.

What Al Zeyoudi said at the Hili Forum

The Hili Forum is organised by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) and the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA). Its third edition ran on 7 and 8 September 2026 at The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi under the theme “Gulf at Crossroads: Conflict, Consequences and Course Correction”, with more than 1,000 participants from over 35 countries. The first day covered regional security, deterrence and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz; the second opened with the keynote by Dr Al Zeyoudi. The points that matter for business, in the order he made them:

• Non-oil foreign trade reached a record AED 1.94 trillion in the first half of 2026, up 13.1% year on year and nearly 80% above the first half of 2022, and non-oil exports reached their highest level ever at AED 453 billion. The minister called the results evidence of the competitiveness of UAE products, the strength of trade routes and the diversity of services.
• The UAE, in his words, had overcome the challenges created by recent regional developments, had transformed crises into structural advantages and would continue to seize international trade opportunities.
• No country should decide who can access the Strait of Hormuz and who cannot. International waterways must remain free from any form of restrictions or arbitrary fees, and freedom of navigation and trade through them is a “red line” for the UAE that should be a priority for all Gulf countries.
• Since the closure of the Strait, the UAE has activated regional logistics corridors linking the country to the Gulf of Oman and has coordinated with Oman to handle incoming shipments through alternative maritime, land, rail and logistics networks. Khaleej Times, reporting the same speech, named Khor Fakkan, Fujairah and Dibba on the UAE side and Sohar and Duqm in Oman.
• Development of the east coast ports has been accelerated and new pipelines have been launched to connect the country’s energy resources to global markets. “These measures are not short-term solutions, but permanent transformations in our positioning,” he said, adding that no country would be allowed to threaten the UAE’s economic strategies or its role in global trade.
• The CEPA programme is the cornerstone of trade strategy: 38 agreements concluded with key partners across six continents, opening new opportunities for Emirati exporters.
• Next on the agenda are modernised supply chains, free and fair trade, and new trade-related technologies and policies. “No other country has the ability to activate multiple new trade corridors at this scale and with this speed,” he said, as quoted by Khaleej Times.

H1 2026 in numbers

The forum figures are rounded versions of the half-year dataset published on 19 July 2026, which we covered in detail at the time. The table brings the two together.

The half-year series shows how the figure was built: AED 1.24 trillion in H1 2023, AED 1.395 trillion in H1 2024 (non-oil exports AED 256.4 billion), AED 1.728 trillion in H1 2025 (exports AED 369.5 billion, imports AED 874.1 billion, re-exports AED 484.4 billion) and AED 1.937 trillion in H1 2026, each announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The growth rates in the table are the ministry’s official figures; base periods are revised over time, so we quote the published percentages rather than recompute them from earlier releases.

The full year 2025, reported by the Ministry of Foreign Trade on 31 January 2026, closed at AED 3.8 trillion (USD 1.03 trillion), up 27% on 2024 and 44.3% on 2023, with non-oil exports of AED 813.8 billion (+45.5%), re-exports of AED 830.2 billion (+15.7%) and imports above AED 2.1 trillion (+25.7%). The fourth quarter of 2025 alone was AED 1.1 trillion, the first quarter ever above that mark, and exports to the 14 countries whose CEPAs were in force reached AED 175.5 billion, 21.6% of all non-oil exports. The ministry said the foreign trade targets set three years earlier for 2031 were already 95% achieved; the headline goal is AED 4 trillion of non-oil trade a year by 2031. Doubling the first half of 2026 gives AED 3.87 trillion for the year, which is arithmetic rather than a forecast.

Trade under a closed Strait of Hormuz: the route map

The minister spoke of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as an existing condition, and Khaleej Times dated the challenge to “the past six months”. The National gave the scale in its report of 22 May 2026 on the UAE-Oman corridors: before the conflict, more than 800,000 TEU of goods a month were imported into the Middle East through the Strait and 450,000 TEU exported, and about 20% of global crude and LNG supply passed through it; by May only 20 to 30% of that cargo was transiting through land bridges from the UAE, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Oman, and container freight rates from China to Khor Fakkan had risen by 300%. The same report listed the border crossings used for Oman-routed cargo: Khatmat Malaha near Kalba in Sharjah, Al Madam and Hatta. Against that background, the assets the minister referred to are concrete:

• Khor Fakkan (Sharjah). The only major UAE container terminal on the Gulf of Oman, with berths 17 metres deep and 21 ship-to-shore cranes, is being taken from 3.5 million to 5 million TEU a year, with a master plan for more than 10 million; we reviewed the USD 2 billion programme in August.
• Fujairah. On 22 July 2026 DP World signed a 50-year concession for Al Rughailat and Dibba ports, designed to handle up to 2.5 million TEU, 5.3 million tonnes of general cargo and 190,000 vehicles a year, both on the Arabian Sea side of the Strait; the details are in our report on the concession. Fujairah is also the country’s oil export terminal outside the Gulf, fed by the Habshan to Fujairah crude pipeline that has operated since 2012.
• Rail and road. Etihad Rail links Fujairah with the industrial zones and the Gulf-side ports, and its passenger service to the east coast started in 2026, as we reported after its first month; the wider multimodal picture is in our logistics hub overview.
• Oman. Sohar and Duqm handle UAE-bound shipments under the coordination the minister described, with onward movement by truck across the land border.
• Shipping capacity. AD Ports Group deployed a 27-vessel container fleet and a 5-vessel bulk fleet in the second quarter of 2026 to keep cargo moving around the disruption, and in September commissioned the country’s largest floating dock at Zayed Port; see our report on SAFEEN Drydocks.

Abu Dhabi’s own customs data point the same way: the emirate’s non-oil foreign trade rose 17.9% to AED 230.6 billion in the first half, as we reported on 2 September, and the UAE non-oil PMI climbed to a 20-month high of 55.3 in August, a reading we analysed last week.

38 CEPAs on six continents

The CEPA programme started in September 2021; the first agreement, with India, entered into force on 1 May 2022. Canada became the 38th partner when negotiations concluded in Toronto on 24 July 2026 after 47 days, the fastest trade negotiation Canada has ever completed, and the UAE-Ukraine CEPA entered into force on 1 July 2026. The six continents in the minister’s phrase are covered by partners such as India, Indonesia and Cambodia in Asia, Türkiye, Georgia, Serbia and Ukraine in Europe, Kenya, Mauritius and Gabon in Africa (the Gabon agreement was signed in Abu Dhabi on 7 February 2026, as we described in our Africa trade review), Costa Rica and Canada in North America, Chile and Colombia in South America, and Australia and New Zealand in Oceania. Not all 38 are operational: the ministry’s half-year data counted 18 in force, and each agreement passes through signature and ratification before its tariff schedule can be claimed. Our overview of the 38 CEPA network explains what the agreements change at the border and how a company qualifies for preferential rates through rules of origin and a certificate of origin.

What this means for a company trading through the UAE

None of the forum statements changes a law, a duty rate or a procedure, so there is nothing to file by a deadline. What has changed is the operating environment, and four practical consequences follow from the facts above.

1. Routing is now a planning decision, not an emergency measure. The minister has said the east coast gateways are permanent. A company that imports into the UAE should ask its forwarder for rates and transit times via Khor Fakkan and Fujairah as well as Jebel Ali and Khalifa Port, and for the inland leg by truck or rail, and should budget for freight that in May cost up to 300% more on the China to Khor Fakkan lane than before the conflict.
2. Customs registration must match the port of clearance. Customs in the UAE is administered by emirate, so a trader that starts clearing cargo in Sharjah or Fujairah rather than Dubai should confirm with its customs broker what registration the receiving port requires; the licence must also carry the right activities, from general trading to import, export and re-export, before volumes arrive.
3. CEPA preferences reward paperwork. With trade with CEPA partners at AED 304.3 billion in six months and 18 agreements in force, the saving goes to the entity of record that can prove origin. Map your corridors against the list, check the tariff lines and set up the origin documentation before the first shipment.
4. Banking and structure decide the economics. A free zone entity keeps goods outside the UAE customs territory until they are cleared for the local market and suits re-export; a mainland licence suits direct sales to UAE customers. Either way, letters of credit, multi-currency accounts and trade finance take longer to arrange than the licence, and residence visas for trading and logistics staff run in parallel.

Checklist for importers, exporters and re-exporters

• Get quotes for at least two routings, one via the Gulf ports and one via Khor Fakkan or Fujairah, with the inland leg included.
• Confirm the customs registration and the importer or exporter code for the emirate where the cargo will clear.
• Check whether your products fall under a CEPA in force and what the preferential rate and origin documentation are.
• Review licence activities for import, export, re-export and distribution before changing routes or adding products.
• Open trade finance facilities and multi-currency accounts early; banks review new trade lanes and counterparties, and that takes time.
• Plan residence visas for logistics and trading staff alongside the licence, not after it.

How Atlant Capital can help

Atlant Capital works with traders, manufacturers and distributors entering the UAE market. We handle company formation on the mainland and in free zones, including the choice between a re-export structure and a local distribution licence and the selection of trading, import, export and re-export activities; support with customs registration and importer codes; corporate bank account opening and introductions for trade finance; and work permits and residence visas for owners and staff. Bookkeeping, audit and tax filings are handled by licensed accounting firms from our partner network. To discuss a trading structure or a change of routing, contact us.

Conclusion

The number the minister repeated on 8 September 2026 was already known: AED 1.94 trillion of non-oil foreign trade in six months, 13.1% more than a year earlier, nearly 80% more than in 2022, and a record AED 453 billion of exports. The new information is the government’s position that the corridors, ports and pipelines built around the closed Strait of Hormuz are permanent, that Fujairah, Khor Fakkan and Dibba are now national gateways alongside Jebel Ali and Khalifa Port, and that the 38 CEPAs on six continents are the framework in which that capacity will be used. For a company trading through the UAE, the practical work is the same as before the forum, with a wider map: choose the routing, register with the right customs authority, document origin for CEPA preferences and have the licence, bank facilities and visas in place before the cargo moves.

Sources: Emirates 24|7 report of Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi’s keynote at the Hili Forum, 8 September 2026; Khaleej Times, 8 September 2026; Emirates 24|7 and Gulf News on the Hili Forum programme, 7 September 2026; Dubai Media Office release on H1 2026 non-oil foreign trade, 19 July 2026; Ministry of Foreign Trade release on 2025 non-oil foreign trade, 31 January 2026; government announcements of the H1 2023, H1 2024 and H1 2025 results; The National, 22 May 2026, on the UAE-Oman corridors. USD figures converted at the AED peg of 3.6725.

FAQ

What was the UAE non-oil foreign trade in the first half of 2026?

AED 1.937 trillion (about USD 527 billion), which the Minister of Foreign Trade rounded to AED 1.94 trillion at the Hili Forum on 8 September 2026. That is 13.1% more than in the first half of 2025, 39.6% more than in H1 2024 and 78.8% more than in H1 2022. Non-oil exports were a record AED 452.8 billion, 23.9% higher year on year and 23.4% of the total. The figures were first announced on 19 July 2026.

How is the UAE moving cargo while the Strait of Hormuz is closed?

According to the minister, the UAE activated regional logistics corridors linking the country to the Gulf of Oman, coordinated with Oman to handle incoming shipments through alternative maritime, land, rail and logistics networks, accelerated its east coast ports, Fujairah, Khor Fakkan and Dibba, and launched new pipelines to global markets. Khor Fakkan is being expanded to 5 million TEU a year, and DP World holds a 50-year concession signed on 22 July 2026 for the Al Rughailat and Dibba ports in Fujairah with a design capacity of 2.5 million TEU. The minister called these changes permanent.

How many CEPAs has the UAE concluded?

Thirty-eight comprehensive economic partnership agreements since September 2021, with partners on six continents; the most recent is Canada, concluded on 24 July 2026. According to the ministry’s half-year data 18 of them were in force, and non-oil trade with CEPA partners reached AED 304.3 billion in the first half of 2026, of which AED 66.1 billion were UAE non-oil exports. Preferential tariffs apply only to goods that meet the rules of origin of the relevant agreement and ship with a certificate of origin.

What is the UAE non-oil trade target for 2031?

The stated goal is AED 4 trillion of non-oil foreign trade a year by 2031. In 2025 the total reached AED 3.8 trillion, up 27% on 2024, with non-oil exports of AED 813.8 billion, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade said in January 2026 that the targets set three years earlier were 95% achieved. The first half of 2026 added AED 1.937 trillion; doubling it gives AED 3.87 trillion for the year, which is arithmetic rather than a forecast.