How have the hobbies of Emiratis changed due to isolation?

COVID-19 has forced most of Emiratis to stay at home. The shutdown of points of interest, workplaces, schools, and universities has made a colossal difference in our daily lives.

Picodi.com Analysis Team investigated Google search queries and created a ranking of the activities which gained the biggest popularity in the times of pandemic.

Trapped at home

We took a closer look at the most popular hobbies and activities, such as cinema, books, games, and many others. We checked the frequency of search queries connected to these activities in March 2020 and compared them with March of the previous year.

After evaluating statistics, it turned out that all activities that require leaving home have become less popular: cinema dropped by 93 per cent, theatre — 73 per cent, concerts — 70 per cent.
The biggest increase of interest was noted in board games (242 per cent), card games 151 per cent), and online courses, such as Udemy (151 per cent).. There is a possibility that the uncertain situation in the labour market has made Internet users seek opportunities to gain additional qualifications.

Workout placed 14^th with a 39 per cent increase, which means that people probably look for alternatives to gyms and fitness clubs. Various creative activities and crafts, like drawing (61 per cent) or origami (21 per cent) have also gained popularity.

Among activities which increased by a relatively slow margin are yoga, sewing, and crocheting.

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Methodology

The research is based on the changes in the popularity of various keywords in March 2020 compared with March of the previous year, according to Google archival data (through Google Trends).

Public Use

Feel free to use all the data and infographics presented in this report for both commercial and non-commercial purposes as long as you indicate the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage. If you have any questions, please contact us: research@picodi.com.