The United Arab Emirates is reinforcing its position as one of the world’s leading centers for gold trading, driven by advanced commercial infrastructure, growing trade flows, and flexible economic policies. The UAE gold sector saw notable expansion across 2024 and 2025 in both value and traded volumes.
Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said that gold worth 186 billion dollars passed through the UAE in 2024, securing its rank as the world’s second-largest trading hub for the precious metal.
Speaking at the Dubai Precious Metals Conference, he highlighted the impact of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements program, noting that 32 rounds of negotiations were completed and 13 agreements have entered into force, opening new markets and increasing trade flows with partner countries.
He added that technology, especially blockchain, tokenization, and artificial intelligence, will play an increasingly central role in improving the efficiency of global gold movement by enhancing transparency, ensuring source traceability, and strengthening supply-chain management.
The gold trade showed strong acceleration in 2025. The first quarter recorded transactions worth 225 billion dirhams, nearly 50% higher than the 150 billion dirhams recorded in the same period of 2024. Traded volumes reached 1,945 tons, marking an unprecedented rise in activity.
The UAE’s gold exports stood at about 53.41 billion dollars, further establishing the country as a major transit and re-export hub for bullion and jewellery.
Additional 2024 figures underline the growth trend. Imports reached around 1,392 tons, including 748 tons from African countries, an 18% increase compared with 2023. In the same year, 1.06% of gold passing through the UAE had a value of 1.97 billion dollars.
Local consumption patterns shifted in 2024, with consumer demand for gold jewellery falling by nearly 6%, while purchases of gold bars and coins increased as investors moved towards safer assets.
Current indicators show the UAE is steadily advancing toward an even stronger position as a global platform for gold trade, supported by expanding international agreements, rising annual trade volumes, and wider adoption of advanced technologies that enhance transparency and supply-chain oversight.
The country is also strengthening its role as a primary import hub for African gold and a re-export gateway to Asia and Europe.
With continued record growth expected in 2025, the UAE is projected to further consolidate its role as a strategic international center for gold trading, driven by digital trade expansion and greater use of blockchain and tokenization technologies to facilitate cross-border movement of the metal.
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