The United Arab Emirates' non-oil trade reached a record high 3.5 trillion dirhams ($952.93 billion) in 2023, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said on X on Sunday, reflecting the country's initiatives to reduce its reliance on oil.

Trade in non-oil goods rose 12.6% from 2022, while exports of goods and services surpassed 1 trillion dirhams to set a new record, Thani Al Zeyoudi, minister of foreign trade, said in a separate social media post.

The non-oil sector vastly outperformed overall GDP growth in the first six months of 2023, surging almost 6% compared to overall growth of 3.7%.

"CEPAs are going to play a major role on our foreign trade numbers moving forward," Zeyoudi told Reuters, adding that UAE's trade with its first CEPA partner, India, grew around 4% last year, while trade with Turkey more than doubled, the fastest growth among the UAE's top 10 trade partners.

Expanding services sectors in UAE include travel and tourism, information and communication technology, financial services and professional services, while major non-oil exports include gold, aluminium, jewellery, copper wire and ethylene polymers.

The UAE's non-oil commodity exports grew 16.7% last year to 441 billion dirhams, contributing 17.1% to foreign trade, up from 14.1% in 2019, Zeyoudi said in his social media post.