The
manufacturing industry is considered one of the important activities for the
economy as it meets the need of the local demand for industrial goods and
services, which supports economic sustainability and contributes also to
bringing foreign currencies through exporting locally manufactured products to
the rest of the world, which enhances the ability of the economy in general. It
is one of the vital and strategic sectors in the Emirate of Dubai, where it
contributed with 9.5% of the total GDP of the Emirate during the first six
months of 2019 (at constant prices). The price index for the products of this
sector is important as it is related to retail and consumer prices. It also
reflects the evolution in the prices of industrial producers, the evolution in
the prices of national exports, its ability to compete in global markets, and
the level of competitiveness between the prices of local products compared to
the prices of the same imported products in the local market.
In order to release
this index, the Dubai Statistics Center relied on the international statistical
standards and methodologies adopted in this field, which cover all aspects and
stages related to the release of this index and ensure its quality and its
accurate reflection of reality in terms of selecting the goods that are
included in the producer and consumer’s basket to reflect the evolution of
prices in this sector and the methods of prices collection their sources, and
their geographical distribution, so that all industrial producers are
represented according to their activities and size, in addition to the aspects
related to the mechanism of calculating the index price of the product and the
mechanism of auditing and reviewing those numbers in order to ensure accuracy,
consistency, and comparability.
The index price
of manufacturing products fell by 4.38%, as the general index reached 100.23
during 2019 compared with figures of 2018, which reached 104.82, according to a
report issued by the Dubai Statistics Center for the index price of
manufacturing products in the Emirate in a new series starting from December
2018 to keep pace with the evolution of industrial production in the Emirate of
Dubai. The Center periodically implements the statistical surveys necessary to
update the goods and services included in the producer’s basket to keep up with
the developments on industrial production and the methodologies followed in
preparing the producer’s basket and calculating the index price in accordance with
the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC4) and based on the
updated data of the field survey of manufacturing facilities in the Emirate of
Dubai.
The general
index price of manufacturing products fell by 4.38% during 2019 compared with
figures of 2018. This is due to the decrease in the prices of refined oil products
by 8.92%, pushing up the general index price of industrial products by 1.27
points; i.e. the decrease of prices of this activity’s products contributed by
28.93% of the overall decline in the general index price of manufacturing
products. The outputs of this activity are an important and vital entry point
for most economic activities, which affects the costs of other activities, but
in rates that depend on the importance of the outputs of oil products as an
input to other activities. For example, the outputs prices of base or basic
metals (basic mineral products), whose inputs are affected by the prices of oil
derivatives, has fell by 8.89%, contributing to push up the general index price
of manufacturing products to decrease by 1.29 points, and contributing with the refined
oil derivatives together by 58.41% of the decline in the general index price of
manufacturing products output.
Prices of other
products also fell, including beverages by 4.73%, rubber and plastics by 4.45%,
formed metalwork, other than machine and equipment, by 3.90%, automobiles,
trailers and semi-trailers by 3.85%, leather and relevant products by 1.73%,
tobacco products by 1.57%, machine and equipment installation and maintenance by
1.39%, food products by 1.36%, furniture by 1.07%, wood and cork products, other
than furniture, by 0.69%, electrical equipment by 0.51%, other non-metallic
mineral products by 0.48%, and recorded media printing and copying by 0.38%.
Industrial
activities, whose output prices have declined in terms of the relative
importance of its products value, of the total production of manufacturing
industry constitute 81.86%; i.e. the price competitiveness of most of
industrial outputs have strengthened, which is positive for activities and
companies that rely on local outputs as inputs to their operations. This is also
considered positive aspect for the consumer in terms of the outputs that can be
consumed by end consumers.
On the other hand, prices of some industries rose compared with their figures of
2018. The prices of other manufactured industries rose by 9.54%, uncategorized machine
and equipment rose by 2.16%, chemical products by 0.87%, textiles by 0.42%, and
paper and paper products by 0.38 %.
Prices remained
stable for garments, basic pharmaceuticals products, and other transport
equipment.