Rising housing and food prices have pushed Dubai's inflation rate to the highest since 2009, with the cost of living in March up 3 percent on the year before, Al Arabiya reported.
Housing and utility costs, which account for almost 44 percent of consumer expenses, were up 4.8 percent, and rose 0.4 percent month-on-month in March, Reuters said, quoting data from the Dubai Statistics Center.
The cost of food and drinks also rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier and gained 1.2 percent from a month earlier.
Inflation is now at the highest level since August 2009, the year the global financial crisis caught up with Dubai and brought state-owned Dubai World and its subsidiary Nakheel to a debt standstill.
Property rents and purchase costs have risen dramatically in Dubai as the local economy bounced back from the economic downturn.
Dubai has had the largest rise in annual property values globally, with an increase of 21.7 percent, the London-based property consultants Knight Frank said in September.