Dubai Duty Free Achieves Record Annual Sales Of AED 7.9 Billion

Dubai Duty Free concluded 2024 with a record-breaking annual turnover of AED7.901 billion (US$2.16 billion). This achievement was largely driven by a significant increase in sales towards the year's end. December alone set a new monthly record, generating AED821.94 million (US$225.19 million), marking a 2% rise compared to December 2023, which previously held the highest sales record.

The impressive December figures were boosted by Dubai Duty Free's 41st anniversary on 20 December. During this celebration, a 25% discount was offered on numerous products, leading to a shopping spree worth AED59.99 million (US$16.44 million) within just one day. November also saw strong sales, continuing the upward trend from the previous year.

Confectionery emerged as the top-performing category in December, with sales increasing by an impressive 29.46% over December 2023. Throughout the year, Dubai Duty Free recorded over 20.733 million sales transactions, averaging 56,649 daily transactions. In total, 55.137 million units of merchandise were sold during this period.

An estimated 13.7 million customers shopped at Dubai Duty Free's arrivals and departures stores in 2024. Online sales contributed significantly as well, reaching AED197 million (US$54 million), which accounted for 2.5% of the total annual sales.

Sales in departure areas increased slightly by 0.84% year-on-year to AED7.121 billion (US$1.951 billion), representing 90% of the total turnover. However, arrivals sales experienced a sharp decline of 12.21%, amounting to AED537 million (US$147 million), making up only 6.8% of the overall annual sales.

Looking forward, Dubai Duty Free plans to further improve its retail operations by completing the final phase of renovations in arrival shops across all three terminals early this year.

With inputs from WAM