The world’s most popular retail hubs

The UAE is home to the second highest number of international retail brands after the UK, according to a study by CBRE.

The survey of 326 retailers from 200 cities showed 53.1 per cent of those questioned had branches in the Gulf country, while 56.7 per cent had a presence in London.

In terms of cities, Dubai was the second most popular for global brands, attracting 53.8 per cent of those surveyed.

The Gulf shopping hub was only narrowly beaten by London, where 55.5 per cent of retailers were working.

Other countries mentioned in the investigation included China, France, Kuwait, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.

In terms of European and Asia-Pacific retailers, Dubai was the most important target area for expansion.

 “For retailers the UAE remains a very interesting and important market both for those brands currently trading and those aspiring to enter the market,” said Nick Maclean, managing director for CBRE in the Middle East.

 “The level of confidence that international retailers have within the Middle East and particularly in Dubai is important and it hasn’t been diminished with what’s happened around the region in terms of its internationalisation over the last few years or so.”

Retail has been an important sector for the UAE in recent years, with sales of luxury goods and electronics items in the region bucking a global slump.

In Dubai, which has added more than one million sq m of shopping space since 2006 and is now home to around 40 shopping malls, the industry accounts for around 40 per cent of the emirate’s GDP.The popularity of the emirate with tourists and expatriates was evident at the beginning of this year, when Dubai Mall was ranked the world’s most-visited shopping and leisure destination, welcoming more than 54m visitors in 2011 according to officials.