UAE non-oil exports and re-exports to Iraq fell 25% to about $10.6 billion in the first half of 2026, from $14.1 billion a year earlier, Iraqi economist Manar al-Obaidi said on Saturday.
Al-Obaidi, who heads the Iraq Future Foundation, based the figures on data from the UAE’s Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, Shafaq News reported.
The decline amounts to roughly $3.5 billion.
Re-exports, goods shipped to Iraq through UAE ports from other countries, fell 32%. Exports of UAE-made goods dropped 10%.
Shipments of electrical and electronic goods fell 27%, while vehicles and machinery and equipment each declined 32%, he said.
Al-Obaidi said the UAE, and Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port in particular, is a main gateway for Iraq’s supply chains, leaving Iraqi imports exposed to the disruption to Gulf shipping this year.
He said part of the drop may reflect Iraqi importers shifting to routes through Turkey and Jordan, or buying directly from producing countries rather than through UAE re-export hubs.
He also pointed to Iraqi customs tariffs above 30% on some goods, which he said weighed on demand, and to Central Bank of Iraq limits on transfers to indirect suppliers.
The UAE was the third-largest source of Iraq’s non-oil goods imports in 2025, with an 8.1% share after China and Iran, according to Iraq’s statistics authority.
