UAE Strengthens Global Economic Partnerships; Non-Oil Trade Reaches AED1.937 Trillion
The UAE's CEPA network pushed non-oil trade to AED1.937 trillion in H1 2026, with exports to partner countries at AED66.1 billion.
UAE non-oil foreign trade reached AED1.937 trillion in the first half of 2026. Non-oil exports came to about AED452.8 billion. Countries where Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements are in force accounted for AED304.3 billion of that trade, including AED66.1 billion in UAE exports. Those three numbers put the agreement network at the center of the country’s current trade story.
The CEPA program has moved quickly since September 2021. The UAE has signed 38 agreements in that time, building a network across Asia, Africa, Europe and other markets. In Asia, the agreements cover India, Indonesia and Türkiye. In Europe, the partners are Ukraine and Serbia. In Africa, the list has grown recently to include Kenya, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. Some of these partners are large economies; others are smaller, but each deal is designed to open a new channel for UAE exports.
Canada is the newest addition. Talks for a UAE-Canada CEPA concluded in July 2026, in the shortest timeframe of any negotiation under the program. UAE-Canada bilateral trade was about US$4.2 billion in 2025, up 21% from the previous year. The deal gives the CEPA network a formal presence in North America.
On the operational side, Dubai Customs reported AED33.9 billion in trade supported under economic measures. That is the layer where an agreement becomes something concrete. Border procedures, customs systems and logistics all determine how much of the promised access actually turns into goods moving through the UAE. The customs figure provides one measure of that process.
The first-half numbers show why the program matters. Treaty partners moved AED304.3 billion in trade with the UAE, and the country’s non-oil exports to those partners reached AED66.1 billion. Those are large enough to make the CEPA network a structural part of UAE trade, not a diplomatic extra. The policy itself is aimed at diversifying export markets and strengthening global trade ties, and the data from the first half of 2026 support that direction.
Canada’s entry points to the next phase. The agreement was concluded in July, after the first-half data window closed, so its effect will show up in later trade figures. The negotiating speed suggests both governments expect the deal to move quickly into implementation. The full-year totals will show whether the fastest negotiation in the program translates into the kind of trade growth that the 2025 bilateral numbers indicate. Either way, the CEPA map now runs from Asia through Europe and Africa into North America.
