Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
November 2024 - November 2025
Detailed observation of presented data
E-commerce advertisers in the United Arab Emirates ran materially lower cost-per-clicks than the global benchmark, but with a choppier rhythm. From late 2024 through October 2025, UAE CPCs averaged 0.64 versus 1.14 globally — about 44% below market — while swinging more dramatically month to month. The year’s story features a steep Q1 slide to a March low, a spring rebound, and a standout August spike that briefly narrowed the gap with global costs. This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for E-commerce in the United Arab Emirates compared to the global benchmark.
Across the period, E-commerce CPC in the United Arab Emirates started at 0.82 in November 2024 and ended at 0.69 in October 2025, finishing 16% lower than where it began. The average was 0.64, with a low of 0.34 in March and a high of 0.92 in August — a 167% climb from trough to peak.
Key movements frame the narrative:
Volatility was a defining feature. The average absolute month-to-month move in the UAE was 0.18, roughly 27% of its mean CPC — much sharper than the global benchmark’s 0.05 average monthly move.
The rhythm tracks a familiar arc for digital ads: softer costs after the year-end push, a late-Q1 trough, then a spring and mid-year lift. In the United Arab Emirates, Q1 2025 was the softest stretch (average 0.50), Q2 rebounded (0.61), and Q3 pushed higher on the August spike (0.68) before easing in September and steadying in October (0.69). Globally, CPCs descended from a November 2024 high and settled into a 1.04–1.14 band through October 2025, with a modest uptick into November 2025.
Relative to Facebook Ads benchmarks worldwide, the United Arab Emirates consistently ran below market on CPC:
Understanding Facebook Ads CPC trends and benchmarks for E-commerce in the United Arab Emirates helps teams evaluate country-specific ad costs, compare industry ad performance, and gauge how local CPC performance relates to the global CPM and CTR landscape.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. In the E-commerce industry, Facebook ad costs can be varied, with peaks during holiday seasons and competitive product categories. For campaigns targeting United Arab Emirates, advertisers should consider local market factors and user behavior. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
Ramadan + Eid (Mar–Apr), End of November–December (UAE National Day, Christmas, New Year), Dubai Shopping Festival (mid-Dec through Jan)
CPMs may rise sharply during Ramadan and Eid, especially in e‑commerce, gifting, F&B, and beauty sectors. UAE National Day campaigns could lead to high local bidding activity in travel, banking, and luxury retail. Dubai Shopping Festival drives elevated CPMs from mid-December to mid-January. Islamic holidays shift each year, affecting year-over-year comparisons.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
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Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
Average cost per purchase benchmarks across industries
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