Dubai Mall has topped the UAE’s mall rankings, with 34.4% of residents considering it their next shopping destination, ahead of Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Festival City Mall.
Dubai Mall leads UAE shopping destinations
The mall has been named the UAE’s most considered shopping destination, according to new research by YouGov, highlighting the continued appeal of the emirate’s major retail and entertainment destinations.
The YouGov BrandIndex study, covering the period from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026, placed Dubai Mall first with a Consideration score of 34.4%.
Mall of the Emirates came second with 29.8%, while Dubai Festival City Mall ranked third at 20.2%.
City Centre Deira secured fourth place with 19.3%, followed by City Centre Mirdif at 17.5%.
UAE’s top 10 malls by visitor consideration
The rankings highlight the popularity of shopping destinations across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The UAE’s top 10 malls by Consideration score are:
Dubai Mall – 34.4%
Mall of the Emirates – 29.8%
Dubai Festival City Mall – 20.2%
City Centre Deira – 19.3%
City Centre Mirdif – 17.5%
Abu Dhabi Mall – 16.7%
Dubai Marina Mall – 16.6%
Yas Mall – 16.3%
Dubai Hills Mall – 15.3%
Ibn Battuta Mall – 14.9%
Dubai Mall’s lead over Mall of the Emirates was 4.6 percentage points, while the remaining destinations recorded scores between 14.9% and 20.2%.
Dubai Mall also leads UAE’s positive buzz rankings
Dubai Mall maintained its leading position in the second ranking, which measures the balance of positive and negative things people have heard about a shopping destination over the previous two weeks.
It recorded a Buzz (Net) score of 39.6, followed by Mall of the Emirates at 34.0 and Dubai Festival City Mall at 22.4.
Majid Al Futtaim also had a strong presence, with three shopping destinations featuring in the UAE’s top 10 Buzz rankings: Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Deira and City Centre Mirdif.
YouGov rankings highlight Dubai’s retail appeal
The findings offer two different measures of shopping destination popularity.
Consideration reflects the percentage of respondents who would consider visiting a mall the next time they plan an outing, while Buzz (Net) measures the balance of positive and negative comments or information people have heard about a destination over the previous two weeks.
The research also included shopping destinations in Saudi Arabia, where Al Salam Mall topped both the Consideration and Buzz (Net) rankings.
How the research was conducted
The YouGov BrandIndex analysis covered residents in the UAE and Saudi Arabia between October 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026.
The UAE results were based on a sample of more than 6,460 respondents, while the Saudi Arabia analysis included more than 5,560 respondents.
The data analysis was conducted by YouGov with the assistance of AI tools.
