United Arab Emirates: Gross capital formation (annual % growth)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, United Arab Emirates' gross capital formation (annual % growth) fell 52.46 percentage points on 2022 (from 56.68% to 4.22%).

Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2022), the average change was +2.56 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 18.36 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 41.57 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 52.46 percentage points in 2023. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 15% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to United Arab Emirates in the 2023 ranking

• Greenland — 2nd of 3: -3.59%
• Togo — 3rd of 3: -10.26%

What this measures

Gross capital formation includes acquisitions less disposals of produced assets for purposes of fixed capital formation, inventories or valuables. This indicator denotes the percentage change over each previous year of the constant price (base year 2015) series in United States dollars.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 22 values

Gross capital formation (annual % growth) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 10.97% (2025)
• Bahrain — 3.45% (2024)
• Djibouti — -41.22% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — -5.47% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — -10.46% (2025)
• Iraq — -40.48% (2024)
• Israel — 7.38% (2025)
• Kuwait — -18.28% (2024)
• Lebanon — -31.63% (2024)
• Libya — 8.56% (2025)

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 gross capital formation (annual % growth)?

4.22% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2002?

It is down 1.34 percentage points from 5.56% in 2002. The highest value was 56.68% in 2022 and the lowest -20.38% in 2020.

Is the latest change in gross capital formation (annual % growth) unusual for United Arab Emirates?

In 2023, United Arab Emirates' gross capital formation (annual % growth) fell 52.46 percentage points on 2022 (from 56.68% to 4.22%). Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2022), the average change was +2.56 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 18.36 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.GDI.TOTL.KD.ZG, 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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