Dubai Duty Free announced its annual sales for 2025, achieving $2.378 billion, representing a 9.85% increase over 2024 and making it the most successful year in the retailer's history.

Driven by ten record breaking months, with December capping the year on a high note, with sales reaching $252.81 million - the highest monthly sales in the retailer’s 42 years and a 12.27% increase over December 2024.

December sales were further fueled by Dubai Duty Free’s 42nd anniversary celebrations when the operation offered a 25% discount on 20th December, which resulted in a shopping spree of $19 million for 24 hours.

Ramesh Cidambi, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free said, "Our 2025 performance is due to the focus, resilience and dedication of the team under difficult conditions combined with great support from our suppliers and brand partners. They have worked together to increase customer engagement and spend and helped deliver $2.378 billion in sales while breaking records in ten out of twelve months this year.”

“In what has been a truly historic year for Dubai Duty Free, I would like to extend my since thanks to our Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, for his unwavering support over the past four decades, and in particular for his guidance and encouragement throughout this landmark year,” added Cidambi.

Growth in sales exceeded passenger traffic by an estimated 5% (the final passenger numbers for 2025 will only be released by Dubai Airport later this month), demonstrating the effectiveness of its strategy designed to increase penetration, improve conversion and overall transaction value.

Strong Category Performance Driving Growth

Dubai Duty Free’s 2025 results were supported by consistent performance across its core product categories.

The top five selling categories for the year were Perfumes, Liquor, Gold, Tobacco and Confectionery.

Perfumes remained the leading category, generating $438.668 million and accounting for 18.45% of total sales. Liquor followed with sales of 290.605 million, representing 12.22% of total annual sales.

Gold recorded $245.604 million in sales and contributed 10.33% towards total revenue, while. Tobacco came in fourth place with $242.081 million sales and accounted for 10.18% of total revenue.

Confectionery ranked fifth place with sales of $231.640 million and accounted for 9.74% of total annual sales.

This performance was driven by the outstanding sales of ‘Dubai chocolate’, which sold 719 tonnes across 13 brands, including two Dubai Duty Free

exclusives: Patchi Pistachio Kunafa Bar and Habibe Chocolate.

Online sales reached $63.030million, accounting for 2.65% of total sales.

The operation recorded over 21 million sales transactions during the year - an average of 58,212 sales transactions per day – with a total of 56.796 million units of merchandise sold.

Sales Channels and Source Markets

Departures sales totaled $2.155 billion, accounting for 90.60% of annual sales, while Arrivals sales reached $150.920 million, representing 6.35% of total annual sales.

In December, all major regions recorded sales growth. Russia saw the highest increase at 25.7% followed by Europe (including the UK) at 19.2%, Africa at 17.1%, the Middle East at 11.8%, the Far East at 8.6%, the Americas at 8.2% and the Indian sub-continent at 5.1%.

Among the main concourses, Concourse A was the top performer with a 25.6% sales increase in December, followed by Concourse C at 22.3% and Terminal 2 at 20.5%.

For the full year, among the major regions, Europe was top performer with growth of 18.3%, followed by Africa (up 14%), the Americas (up 11.6%), the Middle East (11.3%), Russia (up 9.9%) and both the Far East and the Indian sub-continent at around 5%.

A Year Defined by Momentum and Milestones

The year also saw the opening of new boutiques and concept stores, introducing refreshed retail concepts and immersive brand experiences, including the redesigned of its Arrival shops across three terminals which included the opening of Les Caves de Champagne in Terminal 3, luxury boutiques in Concourse A including Louis Vuitton and Cartier as well as the Royal Salute Whisky boutique, also in Concourse A.

Exclusive product launches, including travel retail only and limited-edition collections, combined with a calendar of unique promotions and signature campaigns, further enhanced customer engagement and loyalty. Dubai Duty Free estimates that exclusive products contributed approximately 12% of total sales in the major categories.

Dubai Duty Free’s success in 2025 was built steadily month by month, with ten months achieving record sales (January, February, April, May, July, August, September, October, November and December) – reflecting sustained consumer demand, effective merchandising strategies and operational excellence across Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. These achievements underscore Dubai Duty Free’s continued innovation and leadership in the travel retail sector. -TradeArabia News Service