Dubai gold rate is down near Dh7 this week - that's good for tourists

Dubai: For this weekend’s shoppers, the Dubai Gold Rate is lower by just under Dh7 on a gram basis, at Dh362.5 for a gram of 22K (and Dh391.75 for 24K.) That’s quite a sizable price drop in times when gold has consistently been pushing the ceiling in reaching for new highs.

Potential shoppers will feel a bit disappointed in that the price drop was not by a bigger margin – at several points it did seem that the Dubai gold rate could close the week at around Dh357-Dh358 a gram. But, as jewellers say, there is always another week for things to change.

Even then, a near Dh7 a drop will find favour with tourist-shoppers, and there have been many in recent days. “The UAE resident-shoppers dominated on April 30’s ‘Akshaya Trithiya’, and now most of them will stay on the side-lines until they see a bit more of the price drop,” said a jeweller. “But Dubai and UAE still has a sizable number of visitors/tourists – we are counting on them to keep the gold trade busy in the coming days.”

The time has also come for UAE’s gold retail sector to come up with more jewellery design options. Andrew Naylor is the Middle East and Public Policy head at World Gold Council. He reckons that the Dubai gold business is sitting on a potential gold mine of an opportunity.

“In Dubai, you’ve got a big and growing Chinese resident base,” said Naylor. “They historically prefer 24K jewellery, heritage products, slightly lighter weight options now.

“Then there are the visitors to Dubai/UAE from Europe and further afield – and they come with different preferences on their choice of gold.

“There is a real opportunity for jewellers in the UAE to diversify their designs and options without neglecting their core customer base. If they do tap a more international buyer set, that could mean more growth down the line.”

In fact, there had been talk of some Chinese retailers wanting to get into the local market. The UAE’s existing jewellers have also ‘experimented’ with how they can do better in selling to new buyers coming to Dubai/UAE – whether as visitors or residents. (There is a telling anecdote about how one of UAE’s biggest master-developers recorded Dh1 billion in sales of homes to Chinese investors last year – and reached the same tally of Dh1 billion in the first three months of 2025 alone…)