Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi Launches Digital Economy Survey

SCAD launches comprehensive initiative to measure digital economic activities and track technology's contribution to the emirate's economic growth

Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi has unveiled a Digital Economy Survey designed to enhance measurement of digital economic activities and provide substantive insight into how technology, artificial intelligence and innovative digital business models are reshaping Abu Dhabi’s economic landscape.

The survey encompasses businesses across pivotal sectors of the digital economy, including e-commerce and digital platforms, financial technology and digital financial services, software and cloud services, transport and delivery platforms, data services and digital infrastructure. By collecting granular data on digital revenues, emerging technology adoption and the role of digital business models in economic activity, the initiative establishes a statistical baseline essential for monitoring the emirate’s digital economic development.

Abdulla Gharib Alqemzi, Director-General of SCAD, emphasised that this initiative represents a significant step in modernising Abu Dhabi’s economic measurement framework, complementing the comprehensive revision of the emirate’s gross domestic product time series announced in May 2026. The survey will furnish policymakers with substantially improved data capturing digital economic activities and their contribution to Abu Dhabi’s economy, enabling official statistics to reflect the evolving economic structure with greater precision and accuracy.

The Digital Economy Survey aligns with the UAE Digital Economy Strategy, which aspires to elevate the digital economy’s contribution to national GDP from 9.7 percent in 2022 to 19.4 percent within a decade. By establishing a more robust evidence base, the findings will support Abu Dhabi’s economic diversification objectives, enhance competitive positioning, attract investment and facilitate sustainable economic growth.

Source: WAM