−0.54
Experimental. Not yet validated against GDP: Dubai publishes quarterly GDP only in press releases, and Dubai Land Department transaction counts are available from January 2026, so property inputs shape the Pulse only from 2026. Earlier history rests on port trade (from 2019) and internet searches.
Dubai weekly economic activity
What drives the Pulse
Held back by online searches (−0.54). Biggest move over four weeks: online searches (+0.67). 2 of 5 activity inputs are growing faster than their average.
Contributions by group
| Group | Week of 19 Oct 2026 | Change since 21 Sep 2026 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transport & trade | +0.00 | −0.00 | ||
| Online searches | −0.54 | +0.67 | ||
| Weekly Economic Pulse | −0.54 | +0.67 |
Latest data
| Input | Source | Latest data | 13-week growth | Signal | vs 4 weeks ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transport & trade | |||||
| Seaborne trade through Jebel Ali and Dubai ports | IMF PortWatch | 16 Oct 2026 | +68.3% | +0.7 above average | ▼ |
| Online searches | |||||
| Searches: apartments to rent | Google Trends | 11 Oct 2026 | – | −0.1 near average | ▲ |
| Searches: flight tickets | Google Trends | 11 Oct 2026 | – | −0.9 below average | ▲ |
| Searches: jobs | Google Trends | 11 Oct 2026 | – | −0.7 below average | ▲ |
| Searches: restaurants | Google Trends | 11 Oct 2026 | – | +0.3 above average | ▲ |
How to read the breakdown
- Level: 0 is average growth. Readings beyond ±1 are rare outside recessions and rebounds.
- Hard data vs the rest: momentum is more reliable when energy, transport, trade and labour data agree. A move driven mainly by online searches or financial markets is a softer signal and more often reverses.
- Breadth: the share of activity inputs growing faster than average. A rising Pulse with narrowing breadth rests on few inputs.
- Latest weeks: inputs report with different lags. Until most have reported, the latest reading is provisional and is revised as data arrive.
Pulse and GDP
Dubai has no separate quarterly GDP nowcast; its economy is covered by the daily United Arab Emirates GDP nowcast. The Pulse is a weekly gauge of momentum, not a GDP estimate: it reacts within days to shifts in activity that official monthly and quarterly statistics confirm weeks later.
Latest weekly readings
| Week starting | Pulse | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 2026 | −0.54 | below-average |
| 12 Oct 2026 | −0.81 | below-average |
| 5 Oct 2026 | −0.95 | below-average |
| 28 Sep 2026 | −1.00 | weak |
| 21 Sep 2026 | −1.21 | weak |
| 14 Sep 2026 | −1.27 | weak |
| 7 Sep 2026 | −1.38 | weak |
| 31 Aug 2026 | −1.58 | weak |
| 24 Aug 2026 | −1.89 | weak |
| 17 Aug 2026 | −2.16 | weak |
| 10 Aug 2026 | −2.17 | weak |
| 3 Aug 2026 | −2.22 | weak |
| 27 Jul 2026 | −2.09 | weak |
About the Dubai Weekly Economic Pulse
The Pulse combines weekly and daily public indicators of economic activity in Dubai into one number. Each input is seasonally adjusted, turned into its growth over the last 13 weeks, and standardised; the Pulse is their common factor, scaled so that 0 is average growth and 1 is one standard deviation. It is published for several economies on the same scale, so readings can be compared across countries.
Sources: Dubai Land Department property transactions and rental contracts, IMF PortWatch (Jebel Ali and Dubai ports), Google Trends (Dubai), Dubai Financial Market index.
Full method, tests and limitations: Methodology · Weekly Economic Pulse.
Questions
What is the Dubai Weekly Economic Pulse?
A weekly index of economic activity in Dubai, built by worldgdp.org from high-frequency public data (Dubai Land Department property transactions and rental contracts, IMF PortWatch (Jebel Ali and Dubai ports), Google Trends (Dubai), Dubai Financial Market index…). It measures momentum: how fast activity has grown over the last 13 weeks compared with its long-run average. 0 = average growth, +1 = one standard deviation faster.
What does the latest reading say about the Dubai economy?
In the week of 19 Oct 2026 the Pulse was −0.54, below-average momentum, +0.67 over four weeks and +1.38 over thirteen. It is higher than 24% of weekly readings since 2008 (2020–2021 excluded).
What is driving the Dubai Pulse?
In the week of 19 Oct 2026: Held back by online searches (−0.54). Biggest move over four weeks: online searches (+0.67). 2 of 5 activity inputs are growing faster than their average. Contributions are in standard deviations and add up to the Pulse.
Is the Pulse a GDP forecast?
No. It is a gauge of momentum from weekly data, not an estimate of GDP. Dubai has no separate quarterly GDP nowcast; for GDP, see the daily United Arab Emirates GDP nowcast on worldgdp.org.
How often is it updated, and is it revised?
Weekly, every Friday morning (UTC). Recent weeks are revised as late data arrive and as seasonal factors and weights are re-estimated, like other weekly activity indices.
Is it the same as the New York Fed Weekly Economic Index (WEI) or the Bundesbank Weekly Activity Index (WAI)?
No. It belongs to the same family of methods (a common factor of weekly indicators) but is computed independently by worldgdp.org, with its own inputs, for several economies on one comparable scale.
Other economies
Australia · Belgium · Bulgaria · Canada · France · Germany · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Spain · United Kingdom · United States · All Pulse readings