New benchmark for the year: Dubai Duty Free records US$177 Million in August sales

2025 continues to be an exceptional year for Dubai Duty Free with the airport retailer announcing August sales of AED646.23 million (US$177million), setting a new monthly record for August.

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

Sales in August 2025 represented an increase of 15% over last year’s August sales of AED561.53 million (US$153.84 million). Sales averaged around AED20.8 million (US$5.70 million) per day during the month while passengers estimated about 275,000 a day during the same period.

Commenting on the performance, Ramesh Cidambi, Dubai Duty Free Managing Director, said: “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.

“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.

Building on August’s strong results, 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. The growth highlights the effectiveness of Dubai Duty Free’s diversified product strategy and premium retail experience.

Category Highlights

Sales remained strong across most major categories, contributing to August’s robust overall performance. The standout performer was Confectionery which led the growth with a remarkable 68.90% increase in sales. This was followed by Gold, which rose by over 28.55%, Perfumes were up by13.13%, and Cigarettes and Tobacco recorded an 11.05% increase. Additional gains were seen in Millennium Millionaire ticket sales which rose by 33.70%,Watches up 17.70%, Precious Jewelry up 24.17%, Cosmetics 8.91%, Liquor at almost 3%, and Electronics 2.34%. 

Overall, the Top 10 categories recorded a combined growth of15%. Even excluding Confectionery, the Top 10 categories still rose by 10.44%—a clear indication of the broad-based strength across Dubai Duty Free’s product range.

Dubai Duty Free’s luxury boutiques—an essential pillar ofits success—also performed well in August. Fashion boutiques in Terminal 3’sConcourse A and Concourse B were up 10.86% as compared to August 2024. Cartier was the strongest amongst the boutiques posting a stellar 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 growth in both transaction volume and value signals strong momentum in this key segment, which accounts for almost 10% of Dubai Duty Free’s total sales.

From a location standpoint, all major areas performed exceptionally well compared to August last year. Sales in Concourses A and B were up by 17% each, Concourse C saw a growth of 16.45%, and Concourse D increased by 7.91%. Terminal 2 Departures recorded a 13.60% rise, while Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA) experienced a remarkable 56.91% increase.

The Arrivals Shops also posted strong results, with sales upby 11.72% in spite of increased competition in Terminal 3 Arrivals.

Momentum was also evident across key regions and markets. The highest growth was seen with passengers travelling to the USA, which rose by 27.94%, followed by Middle East with 19.78%, the Indian Sub-continent surged17%, Africa by 15.28%, Europe grew 13.46%, Australasia at 9.49%, the Far East by 9.15% and Russian region at 3.26%. The strong performance across major geographical regions was a very positive sign in August, highlighting Dubai Duty Free’s global reach and diverse customer base.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Dubai Duty Free is preparing to further enhance its retail offering. This month, a new Louis Vuitton and Cartier boutiques will open in Concourse A, strengthening the luxury portfolio.

“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,” Cidambi said.