The UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism has released the monthly price monitoring schedule for August 2026. This schedule tracks the average prices of essential goods across 13 retail outlets via the dedicated platform, the 'Essential Goods Prices Platform.'
The digital platform is designed to strengthen market control and automate price monitoring. Its objective is to enhance transparency, regulation, and price control in local markets, as well as provide reliable data for tracking price trends.
Data for August covered 33 essential items in various packaging sizes, including rice, flour, oils, eggs, milk, dairy products, legumes, chicken, bread, and sugar, which were registered in the participating retail stores on the platform.
The average price for a 1 kg package of Basmati rice was approximately 16.62 dirhams, while a 5 kg package averaged 45.53 dirhams. The average price for 1 kg of first and second-grade flour was 7.76 dirhams, and 2 kg cost approximately 12.26 dirhams.
Among dairy products, a 0.5-liter carton of fresh whole milk averaged 3.91 dirhams, while a 1-liter carton cost 9.46 dirhams. A 170g yogurt container had an average price of 1.97 dirhams.
Vegetable oils had the following average prices: canola oil cost 15.86 dirhams per 1-liter bottle and 23.97 dirhams per 1.5-liter bottle. Corn oil averaged 13.85 dirhams for 0.75 liters and 24.92 dirhams for 1.5 liters, while sunflower oil was 19.31 dirhams for a 1-liter bottle and 35.70 dirhams for a 3-liter bottle.
The average cost of a pack of 30 brown eggs was 23.05 dirhams, whereas a similar pack of white eggs cost 22.97 dirhams. Fresh whole chicken averaged 18.94 dirhams for an 800g bird and 22.97 dirhams for a 1 kg chicken. Pure white sugar averaged 8.75 dirhams for a 1 kg package and 10.94 dirhams for a 2 kg package.
The Ministry also recorded the lowest prices found in retail outlets during the month. The cheapest 170g yogurt container was sold for 1.42 dirhams, and the lowest price for 0.5 liters of fresh whole milk was 3.22 dirhams.
Other noted low prices included 3.24 dirhams for 0.5 kg of white beans (dried and canned), 4.47 dirhams for 0.6 kg of sliced white bread, and 4.93 dirhams for 450g of beans (dried and canned).
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