The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) forecasts that Saudi Arabia and the UAE will lead the Gulf’s financial enlargement in 2026, pushed by strong private-sector exercise, resilient home demand, and advancing diversification efforts.
In line with the ICAEW Financial Perception This fall 2025 report, produced by Oxford Economics, the GCC’s GDP is anticipated to develop by 4.4 per cent in 2026, outpacing most world areas.
Non-energy exercise throughout the area is about to develop by 4.1 per cent, supported by enhancing credit score circumstances, labour market energy, and rising funding in know-how and AI-related infrastructure. Shopper spending is forecast to extend by a median of three.5 per ent over 2026–2027.
Saudi Arabia’s non-oil financial system is forecast to develop by 5 per cent, supported by industrial enlargement, overseas funding reforms, and sustained Imaginative and prescient 2030 spending. Regardless of fiscal pressures and a projected deficit of 5.6 per cent of GDP, the Kingdom’s non-oil exports have risen 17.1 per cent year-to-date, with enterprise confidence at decade highs.
The UAE financial system is projected to develop 5.6 per cent in 2026, underpinned by inhabitants progress, robust tourism, commerce, and monetary companies. Dubai’s financial system expanded 4.4 per cent within the first half of 2025, reflecting broad-based non-oil beneficial properties.
Greater federal spending in 2026, aligned with the We the UAE 2031 technique, will reinforce long-term progress, alongside an anticipated restoration in oil manufacturing within the yr’s second half.
Hanadi Khalife, Head of Center East, ICAEW, mentioned: “This quarter’s outlook reinforces how far the GCC has are available constructing various, resilient and globally aggressive economies. With Saudi Arabia and the UAE driving momentum by way of non-oil enlargement, funding in know-how and long-term growth planning, the area is properly positioned to navigate world uncertainties and proceed shaping its function as an financial chief.”
Scott Livermore, ICAEW Financial Advisor and Chief Economist at Oxford Economics Center East, added: “Saudi Arabia and the UAE are coming into 2026 with robust foundations. Whereas the OPEC+ pause will weigh on oil progress early within the yr, easing monetary circumstances and increasing non-oil economies ought to underpin one other yr of strong efficiency.”
