Dubai Duty Free sales in numbers: Dhs7.8bn revenue, 20 million transactions

Image credit: WAM

Dubai Duty Free reported record sales of $2.16bn (Dhs7.89bn) for 2023, up 24.39 per cent from the previous year and at 6.4 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, on the back of the recovery in the aviation sector.

The duty free operator said December finished with record monthly sales of Dhs807.6m ($221m), an 8.37 per cent increase compared to 2022.

The sales were further fueled by Dubai Duty Free’s 40^th anniversary celebrations when the company offered a 25 per cent discount on December 20, resulting in a shopping spree of Dhs54.1m in 24 hours.

Dubai Duty Free registered more than 20 million sales transactions throughout the year, an average of 55,000 sales transactions per day, and a staggering 55.2 million units of merchandise sold.

“We are thrilled to have achieved our target sales for the year, a record month in December and a record year in 2023, which culminated with the celebrations of our milestone 40th Anniversary,” said Colm McLoughlin, Dubai Duty Free’s executive vice chairman and CEO.

Dubai Duty Free sales in 2023

Dubai Duty Free said perfumes ($374m), liquor ($310m), gold ($212m), cigarettes and tobacco ($204m) and electronics ($172m) remained the top five categories in terms of value in 2023.

The retailer said perfume contributed 17 per cent of total annual sales and retained its position as the top selling category, liquor accounted for 14 per cent, gold 10 per cent, cigarettes and tobacco 9.5 per cent, and electronics 8 per cent.

Departure sales across the operation reached Dhs7.06bn, accounting for 90 per cent of total annual sales, while arrivals sales totalled Dhs612m, representing 8 per cent of sales.

Dubai Duty Free said e-commerce accounted for 2 per cent of the overall sales in 2023 to reach Dhs164m.

The airport retailer said India was the top source market for sales with Dhs973m followed by Russia with Dhs759m, China with Dhs564m, Saudi Arabia with Dhs512m, and the UK with sales of Dhs373m.

Read: Paul Griffiths on Dubai Airports’ bold journey to super-hub status