ABU DHABI, 26th December, 2019 — The construction sector has taken the lead in the top ten list of business activities that acquired licences in the UAE in 2019, according to the latest statistics issued by the UAE Ministry of Economy.

Three licences were being issued daily for both construction contracting and general commerce activities, following by restaurants, which acquired two licences daily, reflecting an increase after a period of slowdown.

The return of activity in various national economic sectors encouraged the UAE’s banking system to provide more financial support to these sectors in 2019.

A total of 1,050 licences were issued by local economic departments in all emirates for construction contracting businesses in 2019 while some 1,004 licences were issued to general commerce businesses.

Some 868 licences were also issued for hot and cold drinks businesses, as well as around 755 for new restaurants and 671 for dessert businesses.

The top ten list includes the transport sector, with 521 licences issued for transporting general materials by light trucks and 508 by heavy trucks, along with 429 licences to sell perfumes, 403 for retail clothing, and 390 for building cleaning services.

The total number of licences issued for the top ten businesses activities amounted to 6,599, accounting for 14.6 percent of new licences issued for all economic activities in the country in 2019.