The primary duty-free retailer at the world's busiest international airport, Dubai International, has disclosed a remarkable new revenue milestone, as sales in 2023 reached 7.885 billion UAE dirhams ($2.16 billion). This surpasses the previous record set in 2019, just over $2 billion. Dubai Duty Free, the largest airport retailer operating within a single country, attributed this success to robust demand for gold, spanning jewellery items to lengths of gold chain.

Gold has now become the retailer's third-largest category. In 2023, passenger interest in the precious metal resulted in sales of 773.5 million UAE dirhams ($212 million), constituting 10% of total revenue. This marks a significant surge in gold's share since the pandemic, where in 2019, it was ranked eighth among product categories.

Despite maintaining a 10% share in 2022, year-over-year sales have seen a substantial increase of 23.3% from $172 million. Among the top three categories, which collectively contribute to over 40% of Dubai Duty Free's revenue, gold's growth has notably outshone the rest.