Dubai's inflation rose to an annual rate of nearly three percent due largely to elevated housing costs.

The consumer price index in Dubai showed a slight increase in September 2025, reaching 115.42 points compared to 114.91 points recorded in August of the same year. This marks an annual inflation rate rise of 2.88% compared to September 2024, alongside a monthly increase of 0.44% from August 2025.

Annually, inflation climbed across various sectors with notable increases seen in housing, water, electricity, gas, and fuel which surged by 5.82%. The entertainment and culture sector saw a rise of 4.15%, tobacco by 3.66%, education by 2.49%, and health by 1.38%. Other areas such as insurance and financial services increased by 1.13%, personal care and miscellaneous goods by 1.03%, clothing and footwear by 1%, restaurants and hotels by 0.83%, furniture and household items along with repairs went up by 0.65%, while food and beverages rose slightly at 0.15%.

However, there was a decline in prices for healthcare services at -0.87% and information and communication services fell slightly by -0.05%. On a monthly basis, inflation posted a modest gain of 0.44% propelled by rises in eight categories including education (2.03%), restaurants and hotels (1.03%), clothing and footwear (0.61%), food and beverages (0.52%), housing-related expenses (0.46%), personal care (0.24%), furniture (0.19%) as well as information technology at a marginally higher rate of just under half a percent.

Conversely, transportation costs decreased by -0.77% alongside a dip in entertainment expenses which fell -0.32%. Three expense categories-insurance/financial services, health care stability measures as well as tobacco-remained constant without notable price fluctuation during this period.