UAE gold jewellery consumption climbs 8 per cent

Gold jewellery consumption in the United Arab Emirates increased 8% to 99.8 tones in 2007 from 92.4 tones the previous year in spite of the 15% increase in gold price. Retail sales jumped 24 per cent to AED9.5bn from AED7.7bn for the same period. In terms of gold consumption covering jewellery and investment, the tonnage increased 10.4% to 348.4 for last year from 315.6 in 2006, according to a statement released by the Dubai office of World Gold Council. It said that United Arab Emirates gold jewellery consumption in the fourth-quarter dropped nine per cent to 19.3 tones from 21 tones a year ago due to high and volatile prices of gold. The drop in Saudi Arabia was 10 per cent to 22.4 tones from 24.6 tones while the other Gulf countries lost 11 per cent to 9.1 tones from 10.1 tones.