Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group Reports 38 Per Cent Rise in Retail Sales
For Immediate Release
DUBAI, UAE — The Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group has reported a 38 per cent year-on-year increase in retail gold and jewellery sales across Dubai's market in 2025, with the total value of retail transactions reaching AED 28.4 billion as elevated gold prices, record tourism arrivals, and strong regional consumer demand drove an exceptional year for the sector.
Dubai's gold retail sector encompasses the internationally renowned Gold Souk in Deira, numerous high-end jewellery boutiques across the city's major shopping destinations, and a growing online retail channel. The combined performance across these channels reflects Dubai's enduring status as one of the world's premier destinations for gold purchasing.
Tourist spending accounted for approximately 45 per cent of retail gold sales, with visitors from South Asia, South-East Asia, the broader Middle East, and increasingly from Africa representing the main buyer categories. Dubai's combination of a wide product range, competitive pricing, certified quality, and a world-class retail environment continues to attract gold buyers from across the globe.
Resident consumer demand also strengthened in 2025, with gold investment purchases particularly robust as Dubai's population responded to elevated prices by increasing gold holdings as a store of value. The gold savings culture that characterises many of Dubai's resident communities translated into sustained demand despite — and in part because of — the higher price environment.
"Dubai's retail gold market is one of the clearest expressions of the city's unique position in the global gold economy. The combination of a sophisticated physical market with centuries of heritage, world-class retail infrastructure, and an internationally diverse population creates a gold retail environment that is unmatched anywhere in the world. The 38 per cent growth in 2025 reflects all of these strengths firing simultaneously." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
The retail sector's strong performance has positive knock-on effects across Dubai's wider gold ecosystem, driving demand for imported refined gold, supporting employment across manufacturing, retail, and logistics, and reinforcing the city's identity as the global home of the gold trade.
The Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group has invested in sustainability and provenance certification initiatives for retail products, working with suppliers to introduce hallmarking and responsible sourcing documentation for a growing proportion of products sold through Dubai's formal retail channels. These initiatives are expected to become standard requirements across the retail sector by 2027.
"The retail gold market is the visible face of everything that happens upstream in the supply chain. When a consumer in Dubai's Gold Souk buys a piece of jewellery certified as responsibly sourced from a verified African origin, the entire supply chain — from the artisanal miner who produced it to the refiner who processed it to the jeweller who crafted it — benefits from that act of commerce. Dubai's retail market is the endpoint that gives the whole system its purpose." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
The Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group has projected continued growth in retail sales in 2026, supported by strong tourism forecasts, sustained gold price levels, and the ongoing expansion of Dubai's retail infrastructure through new mall developments and the expansion of the Gold Souk precinct.
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