DUBAI - Abu Dhabi's economy grew 30 percent in 2008 amid high international prices of oil, the emirate’s top revenue source, local media reported on Thursday citing a government report.
Oil contributed 63.6 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of 520 billion dirhams ($141.6 billion).
Abu Dhabi's Department of Economic Development Chairman Nasser al-Suwaidi expects the contribution of non-oil sectors to grow significantly in the years to come.
The emirate is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on projects to diversify its economy with a focus on tourism, manufacturing and real estate.
''The years to come will see real changes as efforts are intensified to make true diversification in the productive base to make non-oil sectors contribute by 64 per cent in the GDP," Suwaidi was quoted as saying by state news agency WAM.
In 2008, manufacturing contributed 9.6 percent to the GDP, followed by the construction and finance sectors at around 5 percent each.