United Arab Emirates: Discrepancy in expenditure estimate of GDP (constant LCU)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, United Arab Emirates' discrepancy in expenditure estimate of GDP (constant LCU) rose 61% on 2022 (from 19.46 billion to 31.35 billion).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2022), the average change was +7.9% and a typical year strayed about 40.9% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 99.5% in 2012 and the biggest yearly fall was 81.4% in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 9.18 billion a year. A straight line explains 71% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to United Arab Emirates in the 2023 ranking

• Greenland — 2nd of 2: 274 million

What this measures

Although the SNA ensures there is perfect consistency between the three measures of GDP, this is a conceptual consistency that in general does not emerge naturally from data compilations. This is because of the wide disparity of data sources that must be called on and the fact that any error in any source will lead to a difference between at least two of the GDP measures. In practice it is inevitable that many such data errors will exist and will become apparent in exercises such as the balancing of supply and use tables. This indicator is expressed in constant prices, meaning the underlying series have been adjusted to account for price changes over time. The reference year for this adjustment varies by country.

All 14 values

Discrepancy in expenditure estimate of GDP (constant LCU) in nearby economies

• Algeria — -1.32 trillion (2025)
• Bahrain — 43.22 million (2024)
• Djibouti — 0 (2025)
• Iraq — 21.03 trillion (2024)
• Israel — 0 (2025)
• Kuwait — 0.1 (2024)
• Lebanon — -57,700 (2024)
• Libya — 21.7 million (2025)
• Morocco — 12.47 billion (2025)
• Pakistan

More economic policy & debt data for United Arab Emirates

• Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) — US$48.24 billion (2025)
• Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) — 8.26% (2024)
• GDP (current US$) — US$552.33 billion (2024)
• GDP (current LCU) — 2.03 trillion (2024)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$457.09 billion (2024)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 1.78 trillion (2024)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$50,274 (2024)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 184,629 (2024)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$41,605 (2024)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is United Arab Emirates's discrepancy in expenditure estimate of GDP (constant LCU)?

31.35 billion in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is up 13.09% from 27.72 billion in 2010 (0.95% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 97.69 billion in 2016 and the lowest 14.52 billion in 2020.

Is the latest change in discrepancy in expenditure estimate of GDP (constant LCU) unusual for United Arab Emirates?

In 2023, United Arab Emirates' discrepancy in expenditure estimate of GDP (constant LCU) rose 61% on 2022 (from 19.46 billion to 31.35 billion). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2022), the average change was +7.9% and a typical year strayed about 40.9% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NY.GDP.DISC.KN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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