Global Blue, one of the world’s leaders in tax refund services, published its quarterly “Globe Shopper Spending Insights in Lebanon” report, bearing in mind that figures were adjusted to reflect the devaluation of the pound. Accordingly, the report conveys a 14% annual decrease in the value of tax-free spending in Lebanon during the year 2021, on the back of the contraction in tax-free spending by Saudi (-63%), Egyptian (-32%) and Syrian (-36%) tourists. On the other hand, tax-free spending by Qatari and Kuwaiti tourists rose by 50% and 42% respectively. From another standpoint, the number of tax-free transactions fell by 28% in 2021, as the number of spending transactions by visiting tourists from major Arab countries saw a significant setback. In figures, the number of transactions by tourists from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Kuwait, UAE, and Egypt saw sharp drops of 60%, 40%, 38%, 29%, and 16%, respectively.

The lion’s share of tax-free spending goes to UAE (17%) tourists, followed by Syrian (6%), Egyptian (6%), Qatari (5%), Kuwaiti (5%), and Saudi (4%) tourists, as sketched in the chart below:

Category-wise, “Fashion & Clothing” articles accounted for 68% of total tourist spending in 2021, trailed, and by far, by “Watches & Jewelry” items (23%), “Department Stores” (4%), “Sports Equipment & Clothing” appliances (2%), and “Home & Garden” (2%). As far as the geographical distribution of spending is concerned, Beirut, which hosts most pertinent shopping malls and brands, amassed 79% of total tax-free spending, followed by the Metn (18%) and Baabda & Aley (2%) regions.