Dubai Duty Free shopping complex at DXB Concourse A.

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) has announced August sales of AED646.23 million (US$177 million), setting a new record for the month.

The figure surpasses the operator’s previous peak of AED588.13 million (US$161 million) reached in August 2018, marking an increase of nearly 10%.

Furthermore, the August 2025 figure represents a hike of 15% over last year’s August sales of AED561.53 million (US$153.84 million).

During the month, sales averaged around AED20.8 million (US$5.70 million) per day with Dubai International (DXB) welcoming an estimated 275,000 passengers each day.

“It is a great sales achievement and August’s record adds to the impressive streak of records set earlier this year in January, February, April, May and July,” said Dubai Duty Free Managing Director, Ramesh Cidambi.

“I am particularly pleased that, based on our internal daily tracking, sales have outpaced passenger growth by about 9% – a remarkable achievement that highlights the outstanding efforts of the entire team.”

Additionally, the airport retailer saw an increase in spend per passenger – by almost US$4 per departing passenger – and a penetration rate that was at least half a percentage point higher than last August.

Dubai Duty Free’s year-to-date (YTD) sales now stand at AED5.4 billion (US$1.48 billion), representing an increase of 6.93% on last year.

Confectionery delivers 68.90% yoy sales hike

Sales remained strong across most major categories, with the standout performer being confectionery, which achieved an impressive 68.90% increase in sales (yoy).

This was followed by gold, which rose by over 28.55%, with perfumes up by 13.13%, and cigarettes and tobacco recording an 11.05% increase.

Dubai Duty Free’s Foodplus concept at Concourse D.

Additional gains were seen in Millennium Millionaire ticket sales which rose by 33.70%, with further gains for watches (up 17.70%), precious jewellery (24.17%), cosmetics( 8.91%), liquor (almost 3%) and electronics (2.34%).

Overall, these ‘top 10’ categories recorded a combined growth of 15% – or 10.44% excluding confectionery, demonstrating the broad-based strength of DDF’s product range.

Zooming in on the performance of luxury boutiques in August, the fashion boutiques in Terminal 3’s Concourse A and Concourse B were up 10.86% compared to August 2024.

Cartier was the strongest among the boutiques posting 29.33% growth over the same month last year.

The average number of daily transactions in the boutiques rose to 254, up from 237 in August 2024, while the average transaction value increased to AED8,004, compared to AED7,748.

The Cartier boutique in Concourse B, DXB. Luxury boutiques account for almost 10% of DDF’s total sales.

From a location standpoint, all major areas performed ‘exceptionally well’ compared to August last year, reports the retailer.

Sales in Concourses A and B were up by 17% each, Concourse C saw 16.45% growth, and Concourse D increased by 7.91%.

Terminal 2 Departures recorded a 13.60% rise, while Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA) experienced a significant 56.91% increase.

The Arrivals Shops also posted strong results, with sales up by 11.72% despite increased competition in Terminal 3 Arrivals.

With regards to key regions and markets, the highest growth was seen with passengers travelling to the US, which rose by 27.94%. This was followed by Middle East (up 19.78%), the Indian Sub-continent (17%), Africa (15.28%), Europe (13.46%), Australasia (9.49%), the Far East (9.15%) and the Russian region (3.26%).

Left: Ramesh Cidambi Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free. Right: A sweeping view of Dubai Duty Free shopping complex at Concourse A.

Looking ahead, new Louis Vuitton and Cartier boutiques will open in Concourse A this month.

“The new Louis Vuitton boutique in Concourse A is expected to open later this week and will significantly elevate the fashion offering in Concourse A, complemented by the anticipated launch of the Cartier boutique in the same concourse by the end of September,” said Cidambi.

Refurbishment work is also underway in Concourse A, which will introduce an exciting new Gifts from Dubai concept store by December.

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