Saudi Arabia

In 2020, demand for ready-to-cook frozen products in ready meals increased as the country entered a national lockdown period in the first half of the year. At this point, many consumers entered home seclusion to protect themselves and others from the…

As the trend to consume healthy food gained ground in 2020, consumers looked for easy-to-cook/-prepare and healthy dishes, which resulted in increasing consumption of salads. As a result, the packaging unit volumes of PET bottles in salad dressings…

The home care market in Saudi Arabia saw strong growth in 2020 given the home seclusion and heightened hygiene consciousness due to the pandemic. With nationwide lockdown, outdoor movement was restricted, and consumers spent most of their time at…

Wine is not available in Saudi Arabia as alcoholic drinks are not permitted in the country under Islamic Law.

The clean beauty trend has been taking over the beauty and personal care market in Saudi Arabia, just as it has done the world over. Consumers are increasingly seeking out cosmetics products that make use of all-natural ingredients, vegan formulas…

Political opposition and civil liberties are restricted in Saudi Arabia, whilst its economic freedom continues to face challenges. The economy has performed strongly, but is set to slow down and reliance on oil remains high, although inflation is…

Computers and peripherals remains in a volume decline in 2023, which is expected to persist overall in the short-term. This is because sales saw a boost during the era of the pandemic, when the lockdowns led to consumers working and studying from…

Consumer electronic is seeing variable recovery in 2023, after the dip in sales the former year due to the heightened demand for personal electronics during the era of COVID-19, thus resulting in a following organic decline due to saturation. Majorly…

Headphones is another category enjoying volume growth in Saudi Arabia in 2023, albeit at a lower rate than seen with wearable electronics. The increasing adoption of headphones and earphones in Saudi Arabia, especially for use while exercising and…

Home cinema and speaker systems are increasingly incorporating wireless technology, as this allows users to connect their devices without the need for cords and cables, thus making it more convenient, flexible, and user-friendly. Such a move is in…

Players appear to be focussing on OLED TVs, with a number of launches from well-known names in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including from brands Samsung, LG, and Haier. Samsung (represented by United Matbouli Group in the KSA) is the leading brand…

Growth for digital cameras and camcorders continues its downward trajectory, owing to the mass consumer preference for smartphone cameras, coupled with continuous technology upgrades in the newer models of digital cameras pushing up prices.…

In-car entertainment is seeing structural declines, as separate navigation systems become defunct. In current times, most new cars, including non-luxury vehicles, come equipped with voice-enabled in-car GPS. Owing to the need for navigation, this…

Smartphone sales in Saudi Arabia have been facing a dip in the post-pandemic landscape, after the boost to electronics sales seen during the era of COVID-19. The top brands in the country, namely Samsung (from United Matbouli Group in KSA) which is…

E-readers continue to struggle as demand is practically non-existent. The device fails to gain consumer’s interest over the popularity of ubiquitous smartphones and tablets, through which consumers can also access e-books. Added to which, the…

Electronic wearables is the winning category in Saudi Arabia in 2023, with double-digit volume growth. This is thanks to the success of smartwatches, which dominate activity-monitoring technology, as consumers value the analysis connected to health…

With travel seeing a full return to pre-pandemic levels, airlines have been keen to take full advantage of the situation. This has included continuously adding new fre uencies and introducing new destinations and routes to their networks. This…

Ever since the remaining COVID-19 related restrictions have been lifted there has been a strong demand among locals to start travelling again with many people having already gone back to all of their pre-pandemic travelling habits and more. Direct…

Hotels in Saudi Arabia is registering strong year-on-year growth in 2023 with operators benefiting from meeting all of the pent-up demand as international and domestic pilgrims have been allowed to return without any cap. Saudi Arabia was in a better…

Interest in domestic travel continues to grow at an extraordinary rate, with the number of domestic trips more than doubling between 2019 and 2023. Domestic tourism is rapidly growing in popularity driven by the government’s efforts to highlight and…

Travel in Saudi Arabia is performing exceptionally well in 2023, having ranked first among all of the other Arab nations in terms of highest inbound visitors in 2022. Saudi Arabia has also experienced an incredible recovery in the number of airlines…

Since alcohol consumption is prohibited in Saudi Arabia under Sharia law, the alcoholic drinks packaging industry is entirely represented by non-alcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic beer in particular. These malt-based beverages come in a variety…

In 2023, there have been stock shortages for some analgesics in key distribution channels in Saudi Arabia, resulting from producers, suppliers, and/or distributors. As a result, end consumers have been switching to alternative products containing the…

Consumer health is set to maintain solid current value growth in 2023, with increases across most categories. Analgesics, and cough, cold and allergy (hey fever) remedies are expected to remain the largest OTC categories. Due to their maturity and…

The pandemic has led consumers to become more concerned about the products they consume, and more conscious of side-effects, with some people therefore preferring to purchase herbal/traditional products instead of standard products, or those needing…

In 2023, dermatologicals is set to return to solid current value growth, although performances are expected to vary widely across categories. For instance, hair loss treatments is expected to continue to benefit from consumers’ perception of their…

Dietary supplements is set to maintain dynamic current value growth in 2023. After the onset of the pandemic, consumers educated themselves on the health benefits of specific ingredients, and became particularly interested in dietary supplements with…

As leisure and entertainment are on the rise in Saudi Arabia, including dining out, more people are facing digestive problems. Furthermore, during the holy month of Ramadan, more people experience digestive disorders such as bloating, heartburn, acid…

Modern daily life is leading consumers to spend a significant amount of time in front of their phone and computer screens. This abundance of screen time has led to a greater proportion of the population developing eye health problems, be it eye…

In 2023, herbal/traditional products is set to continue to see growth across all categories in current value terms, as health-consciousness was accelerated by the pandemic, and this is a trend that has endured and continues to affect consumers’…

To combat the Kingdom’s relatively high smoking prevalence, legislation and taxes on tobacco products have been implemented to deter purchases of such products. For example, in 2021, the government banned the sale of tobacco to children under 18,…

One of the actions the Saudi government took to limit the spread of COVID-19 was to close all schools and universities (with only remote learning permitted), and to suspend all social and community activities for children, including sports. This had…

COVID-19 led to a strong rise in the growth rate for sleep aids, as the stresses and pressures of the pandemic boosted demand for these products. In addition to the fear of falling ill, many Saudi consumers also faced economic uncertainty and nagging…

With all sports centres, activities, and events suspended for significant periods during the COVID-19 pandemic, sports nutrition suffered a drastic decline in 2020. Consumers were not able to work out as regularly as they did previously, meaning that…

Despite the expectation of a slowdown compared with the high growth rates seen during the pandemic, vitamins is set to maintain solid retail volume and current value growth in 2023, supported by recommendations from pharmacists and doctors. In…

One of the most notable consequences of the pandemic was the propensity for Saudi people to put on weight as a consequence of social distancing and home seclusion, which meant that many people were engaged in far lower levels of physical activity…

Wound care is expected to maintain solid growth in both retail volume and current value terms in 2023. With many aspects of life in Saudi Arabia back to normal after the pandemic disruption, consumers are spending more time outside the home and being…

Baby formula saw volume sales fall in 2022 and the category has continued to struggle in 2023, mainly due to the ongoing change in Saudi culture. Years ago, Saudis used to have many children, with an average family having around five or six children.…

The butter market was significantly impacted by the war following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The conflict led to a significant increase in prices due to the shortage of supplies and labour, and logistics challenges. All these factors…

The cheese market witnessed a decline in volume sales in 2022, largely as a result of the impact of the high rate of inflation, which led to significant increases in the price of cheese products. Companies revised their pricing constantly during the…

The dairy products market has maintained healthy growth in Saudi Arabia in current value terms, mainly due to the high rate of inflation, and it is expected that the market will register a better performance in volume terms in 2023 as prices will see…

Fresh milk is seeing a revival in volume sales in 2023 following a decline in the previous year due to the high rate of inflation and the increasing cost of living, which put pressure on consumers. In 2023, however, sales are witnessing healthy…

The re-opening of schools has had a major impact on the recovery of many packaged food categories, with other dairy products being amongst them. The return to schools was a major factor in the recovery of chilled dairy desserts, in particular, as…

Dairy products have established an important role in the diets of many Saudi Arabian consumers. However, in line with many markets around the world, Saudi Arabia is seeing a growing interest in plant-based alternatives that is being supported…

The yoghurt and sour milk products category has shown healthy growth even within the tough economic situation and the slower growth of consumption as a result of the high rate of inflation. The category’s strong performance has mainly been due to its…

Since the pandemic, retail unit volumes of baby food packaging have consistently declined. During the pandemic, mothers – particularly working mothers – had greater time to spend at home looking after their children, and this left them with more time…

Overall confectionery packaging retail unit volume sales in Saudi Arabia returned to growth in 2022, albeit marginal, following pandemic-induced declines due to lack of mobility outside of the home and limited demand for impulse purchases. The…

After a surge in demand for dairy products and associated packaging in 2020 due to pandemic-related home seclusion, retail unit volume sales somewhat normalised the following year as restrictions started to ease and local consumers began to spend…

Demand for ready meals in Saudi Arabia surged during the pandemic as foodservice closures and fears around food delivery drove home-cooking occasions; ready meals presented a more convenient alternative than cooking meals from scratch. Although the…