How the gold rate is set in Dubai and the rest of the UAE
Dubai Jewellery Group, formerly the Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group, is the trade body of Dubai’s gold and jewellery sector. Three times a day, in a morning, an afternoon and an evening session, it publishes suggested retail rates for gold jewellery in dirhams per gram, for 24k, 22k, 21k, 18k and 14k.
Each update follows the world gold price. The dirham is pegged at 3.6725 to the US dollar, so the exchange rate does not move the price: only the world price of the ounce does. Because the official rate is a retail price, it sits a little above the world price: today 24k is about 1.9% above it (AED 9.06 per gram), and 21k about 3.4%.
Most jewellers across the emirates follow the Dubai rate, so the gram price in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah or Al Ain is usually the same as in Dubai. What changes from shop to shop is the making charge.
The 24k rate has changed once today, from AED 496.50 at the first update recorded to AED 497.25 at the latest, up AED 0.75.
Making charge and 5% VAT: what you pay on top of the rate
The official rate covers the gold only. Each shop adds its own making charge for the work: about AED 8-25 per gram for plain pieces such as simple chains and bangles, and AED 30-80 per gram for intricate designs.
The shop then adds 5% VAT on the total, gold and making charge together. Final price = (weight × gram rate + weight × making charge) × 1.05. For a 10-gram 22k chain with a making charge of AED 15 per gram: 4,605.00 + 150 = 4,755.00, plus 237.75 VAT, about AED 4,993 in all.
Investment gold, meaning gold of 99% purity or more that trades on bullion markets, is zero-rated. A 24k bar that meets this rule carries no VAT, while a 24k necklace still carries 5%. Tourists can reclaim most of the VAT on jewellery when they leave the UAE.
Gold units used in Dubai: gram, tola, TT bar and pavan
The official rate is per gram, but buyers in Dubai price gold in several units:
- Gram: the unit of the official rate, and of every price on this page unless another unit is named.
- Tola: 11.664 grams, a traditional South Asian weight used for 24k bars and by buyers from India and Pakistan.
- 10-tola TT bar: 116.64 grams of 24k gold, a common bar size in Dubai.
- Pavan: 8 grams of 22k gold, the unit South Indian buyers use.
- 10 grams: a common unit when comparing with prices in India.
- Ounce: 31.1035 grams, the unit of the world price. Today it is 4,134.62 US dollars, or AED 15,184.39 at the fixed exchange rate.
- Kilo: 1,000 grams, about 85.7 tolas, used for large bullion purchases.
Comparing the Dubai gold rate with India and Pakistan
Many buyers from India, Pakistan and the Philippines compare the Dubai rate with prices at home. The expat currency table on this page converts today’s Dubai rate into Indian rupees, Pakistani rupees and Philippine pesos, before VAT and the making charge.
For a fair comparison, use the same karat and the same weight on both sides. Add the making charge and 5% VAT to the Dubai price, and remember that tourists can reclaim most of that VAT when they leave. The price at home depends on that country’s own market and taxes.
If you plan to take gold home, check your home country’s customs rules before you travel.
Before you buy gold in Dubai
- Check today’s rate for your karat on this page, and the time of the latest update, before you go to the shop.
- Ask for the making charge per gram before the piece is weighed, and compare a few shops.
- Ask whether the price you are quoted already includes the 5% VAT.
- Ask for an invoice that shows the weight, karat, gram rate, making charge and VAT.
- If you are visiting, ask the shop how to claim the tourist VAT refund when you leave.
- The rate can change up to three times a day, so a price quoted in the morning may be different in the evening.
Where the prices on this page come from
We check Dubai Jewellery Group’s rates through the day and show them as published, with the time we recorded each update. Next to them we show the world price, calculated from the spot ounce at the fixed rate of 3.6725 dirhams per dollar. The world price moves live; the Dubai rate on this page changes only when a new session is published.
If the official rates cannot be read at an update, the page keeps the last rates recorded that day, or shows an estimate that is labelled as an estimate.