DED Dubai Activities List: How to Pick the Right One

If you're setting up a mainland company in Dubai, the activity you select on your trade licence isn't a formality — it dictates what you can legally invoice for, which approvals you'll chase, and whether your bank will even open an account. The DED Dubai activities list runs past 2,000 options, and most clients pick the wrong one on the first try.

Quick answer

The DED Dubai activities list is the official catalogue maintained by the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, still widely called DED) covering every commercial, professional, industrial, and tourism activity you can license on Dubai mainland. You pick one or more activity codes when applying for your trade licence. Each code carries its own group, fee, and approval chain — some need external nods from RERA, KHDA, the Central Bank, or the Ministry of Health. Get it right the first time. Amendments cost money and time.

What the DED Dubai activities list actually is

DET (the Department of Economy and Tourism, rebranded from DED in 2022 but everyone still says DED) publishes the master list of licensable activities for Dubai mainland companies. You'll find it on the DET website and on the Invest in Dubai portal. The list groups activities into four licence types: commercial, professional, industrial, and tourism.

Each activity has a five-digit code, an English and Arabic name, the licence type it falls under, and any external approvals required. Some are simple — "Foodstuff Trading", code 4630001, no external nod needed. Others, like "Real Estate Brokers" (6820001), require RERA (the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, part of Dubai Land Department) registration before DET will issue your licence.

Honestly, the list reads like a phonebook from 1998. Searching it is painful unless you know the exact wording.

A practical tip: skip the PDF and use the Invest in Dubai activity search tool. It's faster and shows you the approval flags upfront.

How activities are grouped and priced

Activities are grouped into roughly 80 commercial groups (e.g. Group 1 covers general trading, Group 6 covers building materials, Group 31 covers ladies' accessories). Here's the part most clients miss: under a single commercial licence, you can usually combine activities only within the same group. Want general trading plus building materials? That's two groups, and DET will either reject the combination or push you into a more expensive general trading licence.

Professional licences are more flexible — you can stack several professional activities (consultancy, marketing services, design) on one licence without the group restriction, but you'll need a Local Service Agent (a UAE national, paid an annual fee, with no equity stake) unless your activity falls under the 100% foreign ownership list updated under Cabinet Decision No. 55 of 2021.[2]

Fees vary wildly. As a rough 2024 benchmark for a Dubai mainland LLC:

Costs (approximate, 2024)
- Trade name reservation: AED 620
- Initial approval: AED 120
- Commercial licence (one activity, one group): AED 12,000–15,000 including market fees
- General trading licence: AED 30,000+
- Each additional activity: AED 500–1,500
- External approvals (RERA, KHDA, etc.): variable, often AED 5,000–20,000

These are licence fees only. Add Ejari (your tenancy registration), Chamber of Commerce membership, immigration card, and any visa allocations.

The pricing model rewards you for picking carefully. It punishes you for guessing.

The activities that need external approvals

Roughly 200 activities on the DED Dubai activities list need a green light from a regulator before DET will issue the licence. Knowing which ones, before you apply, saves weeks.

Common ones:

• Real estate activities (brokers, valuers, property management) — RERA approval, brokers must pass the certified training course at the Dubai Real Estate Institute
• Financial services on mainland — Central Bank of the UAE; note most regulated finance work sits in DIFC or ADGM, not mainland
• Education and training centres — KHDA (Knowledge and Human Development Authority)
• Medical clinics, pharmacies, medical equipment trading — DHA (Dubai Health Authority) and sometimes MOH
• Travel agencies, tour operators, holiday homes — DET Tourism sector itself, but a separate department
• Legal consultancy — Dubai Legal Affairs Department (Ruler's Court)
• Engineering consultancy — Dubai Municipality
• Food trading and restaurants — Dubai Municipality Food Safety Department

If your activity needs external approval and you ignore it, your initial approval lapses. You start again. Frankly, this is where I see the most wasted setup budgets — founders who picked an activity without checking the approval flag, then discover three weeks in that they need a degree certificate attested from the home country plus three years of experience letters.

Check the approval column before you commit.

Picking the right activity for your business

Three rules I give every client:

One — describe what you actually do, then find the closest code. Don't pick "Management Consultancies" (7020001) just because it sounds prestigious. If you're running paid ad campaigns, you want "Marketing Services" (7310005) or "Social Media Applications Management" (7310015). Banks scrutinise activity-vs-invoice mismatches and will freeze accounts when your invoices say "Meta Ads Management" and your licence says "Management Consultancy".

Two — think about what you'll do in 18 months, not just today. Adding activities later costs money and sometimes triggers a re-approval. If you're a consultancy that plans to publish a software product, consider adding "Mobile Applications Development" (6201006) upfront.

Three — respect the group rule. If your business spans multiple commercial groups, you have three options: a general trading licence (expensive), two separate licences (more expensive), or restructure your offering so it fits within one group.

A common mistake: e-commerce founders picking "Portal" (6312001) or "Electronic Commerce" (4791901) without realising these are professional/services activities. If you're holding inventory and reselling physical goods online, you need the trading code for the product category plus an e-commerce sub-activity. Two different beasts.

Worth a second look before you sign anything.

Free zone vs mainland: the activity list isn't the same

The DED Dubai activities list applies to mainland only. Free zones — DMCC, IFZA, DIFC, DAFZ, JAFZA, Meydan, Dubai South, the lot — each publish their own activity catalogues. Some overlap, some don't.

Two practical differences:

If you need to invoice UAE government entities or operate retail premises open to the public, you generally need a mainland licence with a DET activity. Free zone licences restrict you to in-zone or international business unless you appoint a mainland distributor or use the dual licensing arrangements some zones now offer.

If your activity is regulated (financial services, insurance, captive financial work), DIFC under DIFC Law No. 5 of 2018 (the Companies Law) and DFSA regulation may be the right home, not mainland.[3] Compare activity availability across jurisdictions before you commit. We cover this comparison in our Dubai business setup guide and the UAE company formation category.

Watch out
The activity name on your licence must match the activity description on your invoices, contracts, and import declarations. UAE Commercial Companies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021) requires you to operate within your licensed scope.[1] Operating outside scope is a fineable offence and a bank-account-freezing event.

Don't treat the licence as wallpaper.

How to amend or add an activity later

You can add activities to an existing licence, but it's not a five-minute job. The process:

1. Apply through the DET portal or a typing centre for an activity addition
2. Pay the amendment fee (typically AED 500–1,500 per activity plus AED 100–300 in admin charges)
3. Obtain any external approvals the new activity triggers
4. Update your Memorandum of Association at a notary if the activity changes your business purpose materially
5. Update Chamber of Commerce and immigration records
6. Notify your bank — they may ask for board resolutions and updated KYC

Timeline: 5–15 working days if no external approval is needed. Three to eight weeks if external approval is involved.

Removing an activity is simpler. Adding one isn't.

Key dates and what to do this week

Key dates
- Trade licence renewal: annually, on the anniversary of issuance
- Activity amendments: any time, but best timed with renewal to save fees
- Ejari renewal must be valid before any DET amendment goes through

If you're at the planning stage, sit down with someone who reads the DED Dubai activities list weekly. The list updates without fanfare — codes get added, retired, or merged. What was valid last year may not exist now. For regulated activities, double-check the approval flag against the current regulator's published requirements, not a blog from 2020.

A 30-minute call before you file the trade name reservation saves most clients a four-figure mistake.

Need this checked for your situation? Talk to a UAE-licensed lawyer →

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Citations

[1] Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies — UAE Ministry of Economy, https://www.moec.gov.ae

[2] Cabinet Decision No. 55 of 2021 on the Determination of the List of Strategic Impact Activities (foreign ownership) — UAE Cabinet, https://uaecabinet.ae

[3] DIFC Companies Law, DIFC Law No. 5 of 2018 — DIFC Legislative Database, https://www.difc.ae/business/laws-and-regulations

[4] Department of Economy and Tourism, Dubai — Business activities portal, https://ded.ae and https://invest.dubai.ae