Licensable activity
Retail & shops
Selling goods to consumers from physical premises. Distinct from e-commerce, and distinct from wholesale trading, in both activity code and premises requirement.
Classification
How it is coded.
UAE activity lists derive from ISIC Revision 4, the United Nations industrial classification. Each emirate's economic department and each free zone then extends that base with its own numbering, so the same activity carries a different code in Dubai than it does in Sharjah or inside DMCC.
- ISIC Rev. 4
- Section G — Retail trade (division 47)
- Licence category
- Commercial
- Regulator
- No sector regulator — the licensing authority is the only approval, unless a specific product or premises triggers one.
Approvals beyond the licence
- Municipality
- Shop permit, signage approval and premises inspection.
- Civil defence
- Fit-out and fire safety sign-off.
- Product-specific
- Pharmacies, opticians, gold and jewellery, and tobacco each carry additional regimes.
In practice
Retail requires a registered tenancy — Ejari in Dubai — before the licence issues. The premises decision therefore comes first and drives both the cost and the visa quota.
Coverage
Where it can be licensed.
Of the 40 licensing authorities across the UAE, 8 issue licences covering this activity, spread across 7 of the seven emirates.