UAE expats feel pinch of the cost-of-living crisis, experts urge spending ‘reset’

UAE expats feel pinch of the cost-of-living crisis, experts urge spending ‘reset’

From rent, to food, fuel and utility bills, expatriates in the United Arab Emirates are beginning to feel the pinch of the global cost-of-living crisis.

As COVID-19 affected global supply chains, climate events disrupted food production and agriculture, and geopolitical pressure and turbulence have caused a spike in energy prices. As a result of this, UAE-based expats told Al Arabiya English that they are now changing their spending habits.

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This comes as a leading consumer expert warned that Dubai’s “casual spenders” will become victims of the cost-of-living crisis should they not change their spending habits and financial mindsets.

Kate Hardcastle, a British broadcaster and business consultant known for her retail and consumer-related work, told Al Arabiya English: “The cost-of-living crisis is everywhere – from the UK to the US to the UAE; It is incredibly prevalent.

“This has been an issue that has been arising for months for many factors.”

This included a knock-on effect from the COVID-19 crisis, which caused issues in supply chains, weather-related crises hampering crop outputs, and high inflation outstripping wage increases, leading to a fall in “real” disposable incomes in addition to the recent energy crisis.

Hardcastle