Global economic performance in 2020 witnessed a notable decline as a natural result of the downturn in all economic activities 2020 caused by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences on the economic performance worldwide.
Despite the expansion in the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the new Coronavirus mutations have led to new epicenters for the global COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of different mutations, which the world is currently dealing with. The statistics indicate a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in India from March till May 2021, becoming the first country in the world to have the highest number of COVID-19 new cases.
In the past years, Dubai has achieved unprecedented rates of growth, reaching 4.5% in 2014. The drop in oil prices and the decline in foreign trade in the subsequent years have caused a decrease in economic growth rates, reaching below the rates achieved in 2014. However, Dubai has achieved favorable growth rates, and 2019 has witnessed 2.7% growth in GDP compared to 2.1% in 2018. It was expected that 2020 would see additional growth exceeding the growth rates achieved in 2019 given the improvement witnessed by the Emirate of Dubai in all economic performance indicators, in addition to the opening date of Expo 2020 Dubai, which has been postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Dubai has provided six economic stimulus packages to help the companies and individuals overcome the economic and social consequences of the pandemic, which is worth more than AED 7.1 billion.
These economic stimulus packages notably affected the performance of all economic sectors in Dubai in the last quarter of 2020 and during the first months of 2021.
In the past years, the real estate sector has contributed to promoting comprehensive economic development in Dubai. It has effectively participated in the generation of Dubai's national income through the sector’s contribution to the growth of GDP, which exceeded 14% in some years. In the first half of 2020, the real estate sector’s contribution to Dubai’s GDP reached 8.2%, compared to 7.4% in 2019. Despite the increase in the real estate sector’s contribution to GDP, the drop in GDP growth was accompanied by a 3.5% drop in the growth rate of the real estate sector.
In 2020, Dubai's real estate sector registered 50,909 real estate transactions despite the exceptional circumstances faced by the global economy and affected most countries. Despite the slight decrease in the number of real estate transactions in 2020 compared to 2019, the real estate sector's overall performance has presented exceptional performance indicators that underscore the strength and robustness of the real estate sector in Dubai, particularly in the last months of 2020.
