Retail

lThe UAE’s retail sales are forecasted to grow from an estimated Dh113.87bn ($31.01bn) in 2011 to Dh151.36bn ($41.22bn) by 2015.

Business Monitor International (BMI), in its Q311 UAE Retail Report, maintains that the key factors behind the impressive 33 per cent jump in the country’s retail sales in four years are strong underlying economic growth, increasing household consumption, growing acceptance of modern retailing concepts and expatriate wealth. . 

Average household spending power in the UAE stands at $14,400 per annum, according to property consultant Colliers International. Emirati households account for the lion’s share of this spending with an average of $23,000, while Western, other Arab and Asian households have annual spending power of $19,500, $13,500 and $10,000 respectively. 

Growing urbanisation is another factor in the buoyancy of the retail sector. A.T. Kearney’s 2011 Retail Apparel Index found that the UAE had the highest fashion clothing sales per capita per annum in the developing world, at $785. The report attributed its success to ‘high disposable income and immense fashion consciousness..

Dubai, UAE: The findings of the Workforce Planning Study, which was commissioned by Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) and conducted by Deloitte, revealed that the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of retail sector employees in the UAE is 2.61%, a rate expected to exponentially increase in light of Dubai’s successful bid to host EXPO 2020.

The projected growth of manpower demand within the UAE’s retail sector results from exponential growth across the industry as a whole. The UAE is the most mature retail market in the GCC, with a retail trade size of US$ 38.1 billion.

The UAE’s retail sector is estimated to increase by 32.9% by 2015 from AED 114 billion in 2012 to AED 151 billion, according to Dubai FDI’s latest report. Influencing factors include: high disposable incomes; retail real estate expansion and the continued construction of...