Dubai Duty Free has announced a continued upward trend in its monthly sales, achieving 646.23 million dirhams in August. This marks a remarkable increase surpassing the previous record for the month of 588.13 million dirhams set in August 2018, reflecting a growth of nearly 10%.
August 2025 sales experienced a significant surge, rising by 15% compared to August 2024, which recorded 561.53 million dirhams. The average daily sales during the month reached approximately 20.8 million dirhams, while traveler numbers were estimated at around 275,000 passengers per day during the same period.
Ramesh Kidambi, the Executive Director of Dubai Duty Free, stated, “This remarkable achievement in our August sales contributes to our impressive performance record throughout the previous months this year. Our internal daily tracking indicates that sales have outpaced passenger growth by approximately 9%, a significant accomplishment showcasing the remarkable efforts of our entire team.”
Additionally, the duty-free shops saw an increase in spending per traveler, which rose by about 4 dollars per departing passenger. The purchasing rate among travelers also increased by at least half a percentage point compared to the previous August. With these robust results for August, total sales for the duty-free market since the beginning of the year have reached 5.4 billion dirhams, marking a 6.93% increase compared to the previous year.
Sales for August this year demonstrated strong performance across various key product categories in Dubai Duty Free. Noteworthy among these was confectionery, which topped the list with a remarkable growth of 68.90%. Following this, gold jewelry saw an increase of over 28.55%, while perfumes recorded a growth of 13.13%. Sales of cigarettes and tobacco products grew by 11.05%. Other products also experienced gains, including sales of Millennium Millionaire lottery tickets which rose by 33.70%, watches by 17.70%, precious jewelry by 24.17%, cosmetics by 8.91%, and electronics by 2.34%.
Overall, the top ten best-selling goods in Dubai Duty Free collectively grew by 15%. Even when excluding the confectionery category, the sales of the ten main product lines increased by 10.44%, clearly indicating outstanding performance across various offerings in Dubai Duty Free. Luxury brand sales significantly contributed to the strong performance in August, with fashion store sales in terminals (A) and (B) of Dubai Airport increasing by 10.86% compared to August 2024. The luxury brand ‘Cartier’ led the best-selling brands with a growth of 29.33% compared to the same month last year.
The average daily transaction count in luxury brand stores rose to 254 transactions, compared to 237 in August 2024, while the average transaction value increased to 8,004 dirhams from 7,748 dirhams. This growth in both transaction volume and value reflects significant momentum in this vital sector, which represents approximately 10% of total sales in Dubai Duty Free.
All major locations within Dubai Duty Free achieved outstanding performances compared to August of the previous year, with sales in terminals (A) and (B) both rising by 17%, while terminal (C) recorded a growth rate of 16.45%. Terminal (D) experienced a 7.91% increase, and the Departures area in terminal (2) saw a 13.60% rise, while Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport noted an impressive sales increase of 56.91%. Sales in the Arrivals area also exhibited strong results, rising by 11.72% despite increased competition at the Arrivals halls in terminal (3).
Sales momentum was also evident among travelers to various key regions, with the highest growth recorded for passengers heading to the U.S., which saw an increase of 27.94%. This was followed by the Middle East at 19.78%, the Indian subcontinent at 17%, Africa at 15.28%, Europe at 13.46%, Australia and New Zealand with a nearby Pacific islands increase of 9.49%, East Asia at 9.15%, and the Russian region at 3.26%.
Future Plans
Dubai Duty Free is gearing up to further enhance its commercial offerings with the upcoming opening of two new stores for the renowned brands ‘Louis Vuitton’ and ‘Cartier’ later this month in terminal (A). Comprehensive renovations are currently underway in terminal (A), paving the way for an innovative store that will align with the ‘Gifts from Dubai’ concept, set to launch by December.