Abu Dhabi increased its foreign trade for non-oil products by 28 per cent in 2011, according to statistics released by the emirate’s Directorate of Customs.

Non-oil foreign trade amounted to AED139.4bn ($38bn) last year compared with AED109.2bn in 2010.

The statistics also showed a widening gap between the value of non-oil imports and exports. Abu Dhabi’s non-oil exports dropped 1 per cent to AED11.5bn, while the value of imports increased by 34 per cent to AED116.4bn.

The director general of the directorate, Saeed Ahmaed al-Mohairi cited the increase in non-oil trade as evidence of the diversification of industry in Abu Dhabi, the state-run Emirates News Agency (Wam) reported.

Over half of Abu Dhabi’s GDP was generated by the oil industry in 2010. As part of its ‘Vision 2030’ strategy, the emirate is aiming to reduce this reliance on oil to 36 per cent in the next 18 years, with metals and petrochemicals seen as important growth markets.

The US was the biggest non-oil exporter to Abu Dhabi in 2011 followed by Saudi Arabia and South Korea, while the top three importers were Canada, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.