Global Blue, one of the world’s leaders in tax refund services, published its quarterly “Globe Shopper Spending Insights in Lebanon” report, conveying a 232% annual increase in the value of tax-free spending in Lebanon in the first half of 2021, notwithstanding the 51% drop in number of transactions over the same period. This is mainly attributed to the devaluation of the pound since the value of tax-free spending is reported in local currency making spending by foreign.  In detail, the value of tax-free spending by tourists from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Egypt, Qatar, and Syria soared by 47%, 375%, 163%, 243%, 596%, and 87% respectively. From another standpoint, and as mentioned earlier, the number of tax-free transactions by tourists from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Egypt, Qatar, and Syria saw sharp drops of 76%, 50%, 79%, 7%, 54%, and 67% respectively.

The lion’s share of tax-free spending goes to UAE (21%) tourists, followed by Syrian (6%), Saudi (6%), Qatari (6%), Egyptian (5%), and Kuwaiti (3%) tourists, as sketched in the chart below:

Category-wise, “Fashion & Clothing” articles accounted for 67% of total tourist spending in H1-2021, trailed, and by far, by “Watches & Jewelry” items (26%), “Department Stores” (3%), “Sports Equipment & Clothing” appliances (1%), and “Home & Garden” (1%). As far as the geographical distribution of spending is concerned, Beirut, which hosts most pertinent shopping malls and brands, amassed 83% of total tax-free spending, followed by the Metn (15%) and Baabda & Aley (2%).