The UAE emerged as the largest Arab capital exporter in 2022, with outgoing investment in projects and other fields swelling by nearly 10 percent, according to an official Arab economic report.

Capital outflow by the UAE, the second largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia, increased to $24.83 billion in 2022 from about $22.54 billion in 2021, showed the report by the Kuwaiti-based Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation (IAIGC), an affiliate of the Cairo-based Arab League.

The report, published this week by IAIGC and the regional media, showed Saudi Arabia was the second largest Arab capital exporter, with outgoing investments standing at $18.82 billion in 2022, far below the 2021 flow of $23.86 billion.

Qatar came third, with outgoing capital flow of nearly $2.38 billion, followed by Bahrain with around $1.94 billion, the report showed.

Kuwait, another key Gulf oil producer, was a major net importer in 2022 after it liquidated some of its assets abroad, the report said, adding that the value of capital inflow stood at around $25.6 billion last year.

Overall, total Arab capital outflow dipped by around 54 percent to $23.31 billion in 2022 from nearly $50.62 billion in 2021, the report showed.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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