Over 80% of UAE residents consider ‘Gold’ as a safe investment option

According to a recent consumer survey conducted by Western Union, 86% of the Arab community in the UAE considers gold to be a safe and/or useful investment option as compared to 88% of non-Arab expatriates, however only 56% Arabs consider it to be more safe today as compared to the previous years in comparison to 88% non-Arabs. This survey was also conducted by Western Union in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in conjunction with its ongoing promotion which offers 160 Western Union customers a chance to win gold across the five countries.

Sobia Rahman, Western Union’s Regional Vice President for the Gulf, Pakistan and Afghanistan said, “For thousands of years, gold has been utilized as both a form of currency and an investment. However, concerns about the slowing economic growth and Europe's debt crisis have created a demand for gold as an investment instrument in the recent past. This combined with the high remittance activity in the UAE owing to the large expatriate population, has resulted in a tremendous response to our promotion which gives our customers an opportunity to win up to eight kilograms of gold.”

According to the survey results, while only 52% of the Arab respondents personally invested in gold, 97% of this group purchased gold up to three times a year and 80% invested up to 10% of their savings. Conversely, a higher number - 70% - of non-Arab respondents invested in gold, of which 81% made up to three gold purchases a year and only 72% invested up to 10% of their savings.

Rahman pointed out, “Another interesting insight from our survey was that, of the total respondents in the UAE who invested in gold, 11% purchased gold four or more times a year and over 26% invested more than 10% of their savings. These numbers are a clear indication of the attitude towards investment planning, something which wasn’t as prevalent previously in the UAE and the region. This growing trend and inclination towards saving and investing, augurs well for the stability of the economy.”