The non-oil private sector outputs of three Middle Eastern countries dropped to their lowest points in years because of COVID-19, a global information services provider said today. The region is now starting to come out of its coronavirus-related lockdowns.

IHS Markit's Purchasing Managers’ Index for the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, released today, is a measure of economic activity based on a survey of business executives in non-oil sectors. It is based on purchases, employment, staff costs, orders, delivery times, construction, exports and an array of other factors.

In the UAE, the index score fell to its lowest point since 2010, when IHS began doing the survey there. Its score of 44.1 for April indicates economic contraction, which begins at a score of 50. This was the second month in a row the UAE received its lowest score ever. The score was 45.2 in March, according to an IHS Markit press release.

"The full month of lockdown measures and business restrictions led to a steep decline in UAE non-oil private sector activity in April,” IHS Markit economist David Owen said in the release. "Shop closures and restrictions in domestic and international travel had huge repercussions on new business.”