Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
January 2025 - January 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Retail CPC in the United Arab Emirates tracked well below the global Facebook Ads benchmarks throughout 2025, but the year was anything but flat. Costs hit an extreme trough in February, climbed steadily through mid‑year, closed most of the gap with the world in September, peaked in November, and then reset lower in December. The rhythm points to a market with low structural CPCs but higher month‑to‑month swings than the global average.
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 Retail in the United Arab Emirates compared to the global benchmark.
The year formed a clear staircase:
This cadence aligns with familiar seasonal pressure: mid‑year stability, a late‑Q3 lift, and intensified competition into November. The December retracement suggests post‑peak normalization after the seasonal high.
Across 2025, Retail CPC in the United Arab Emirates averaged $0.56 versus the global $1.13—about 51% lower. The UAE market never ran above the global level. The gap was widest in February (−92%) and narrowest in September (−12%), when local CPCs nearly converged with the global benchmark. While the global trend eased slightly from January to December (−6%), the UAE climbed (+37%) and did so with greater volatility: average monthly swings of 0.18 points in the UAE versus 0.06 globally. The global curve dipped modestly mid‑year and spiked in November; the UAE mirrored the November lift but with sharper amplitude and a more dramatic Q1 trough.
These Facebook Ads benchmarks highlight clear CPC trends for Retail in the United Arab Emirates: structurally lower country‑specific ad costs than the global average, higher month‑to‑month variability, and a pronounced late‑year swell. Understanding CPC performance for Retail in the United Arab Emirates—alongside complementary CPM analysis and CTR performance context—helps quantify how industry ad performance diverges from global patterns.
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 Retail industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. 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:
Average cost per click benchmarks across industries
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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