Dubai gold sales up 32 per cent in April

Sales of gold in the important Dubai market increased by almost a third in April, according to a spokesman from the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group (DGJG).

Tawhid Abdullah, the group's managing director, said sales were up by 32 per cent compared with the same period last year "as more customers upped their purchases after prices stabilised".

Dubai is one of the top gold consuming regions in the world and a hub for the physical gold trade in the Middle East and Asia.

The DGJG also predicts that the value of gold sales in the Gulf region will increase by between 15 and 20 per cent annually, bolstered by strengthening economies and more tourism.

Gold sales in Abu Dhabi rose by around 10 per cent year-on-year in April, while demand in the first quarter in the United Arab Emirates rose by 5.7 per cent.

Abdullah said that second quarter sales could grow by around 30 per cent in value, adding: "The Dubai gold market is more and more positioning itself as the centre of the Middle East."

The Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group was founded in 1996 in order to support the Dubai Shopping Festival. It now has more than 700 members.