Saudi Arabia

The market for sweet spreads continued to see positive growth in volume terms in 2023, albeit at a slower pace than the previous year. This was mainly due to the stabilisation of sales via the foodservice channel, following a boom in the aftermath of…

Charge cards follow a typical pattern in Saudi Arabia, where such cards have a set consumer base consisting of, mainly, affluent Saudi citizens who use these cards while travelling. Therefore, the rebound of travel and tourism following the pandemic…

Credit cards are not as popular as debit cards in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, however, the category still shows a fair performance. One main issue which credit cards face in the KSA is a question mark around their compliance with Sharia Law.…

Debit cards continue to make up a large portion of all financial cards in Saudi Arabia. Indeed, debit cards are even more prevalent than credit cards in the KSA, owing to a number of factors, such as wide acceptance and convenience of use, as well as…

Saudi Arabia has taken significant steps to transform itself into a cashless society – starting even before the event of the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered digital evolution in industries globally. In this regard, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…

Pre-paid cards are benefitting from the Kingdom’s move towards a cashless society – especially so in certain areas. For example, as seen with the uptake of pre-paid cards for the payment of workers’ salaries, notably so for domestic workers. In this…

Apparel accessories remains in both value and volume slumps in 2023, albeit improving upon the sharper drops seen in 2022. We can attribute this to a normalisation effect following the atypical patterns seen during the era of the pandemic. Notably,…

Apparel and footwear is seeing both value and volume growth in Saudi Arabia in 2023, thanks to a variety of initiatives under the Saudi Vision 2030 programme. Within this, there are specific government initiatives supporting the apparel and footwear…

Childrenswear sees overall support from the baseline fact that children need an ongoing supply of clothing as they grow out of their clothes within relatively short periods of time. As such, childrenswear has shorter lifecycles than apparel for women…

Trends seen in sportswear are also influencing footwear, as the sports-inspired and athleisure trends continue. Sporting activities are a large part of the Saudi Vision 2030, and we are seeing this influence trends in sportswear and sports-inspired…

Non-sheer hosiery continues to perform better than sheer hosiery in Saudi Arabia, supported by the rising athleisure and sporting trends, which support sports socks. On the other hand, the hot climate in the Kingdom, which has extreme summers, plays…

Jeans is a stable category in apparel, being an eternally-fashionable form of apparel which can be dressed up and dressed down accordingly. That said, jeans does face some competition from the rising athleisure trend, although jeans can also be…

Menswear in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is inspired by both local, traditional garments, and global fashion trends. Traditional wear for men typically consists of long flowing gowns and thobes, with the latter being a long-sleeved, ankle-length,…

Sporting activities are a large part of the Saudi Vision 2030, and we are seeing this influence trends in sportswear and sports-inspired apparel and footwear, particularly so in menswear and increasingly so in childrenswear and womenswear. Notably,…

Women’s empowerment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in line with the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030, helps to support growth in womenswear. The government continues to support female empowerment and strive for equality between men and women, through…

Bottled water remains by far the largest category of soft drinks in Saudi Arabia with increasing numbers of consumers switching to bottled water. Although tap water in the Kingdom is said to be safe to drink many people prefer to use bottled water,…

The hot weather in Saudi Arabia continues to support sales of carbonates, with sales also benefiting from the large number of consumers aged under 30, who are a key target audience for these products. Despite this, consumers in Saudi Arabia continue…

Saudi Coffee Co was established by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2022 with the aim of developing the Kingdom’s national coffee industry and increasing its coffee production from 300 to 2,500 tons annually by 2028. In 2023 the…

Vimto (from Aujan Industries Co Ltd) continues to lead liquid concentrates and concentrates overall in Saudi Arabia. The brand saw the launch of Vimto Cordial Zero in 2022, which is sugar-free and contains zero calories, alongside containing no…

Sales of energy drinks continue to decline in off-trade volume terms. Energy drinks incur a 100% “sin tax” in Saudi Arabia, while there are also other initiatives and restrictions aimed at discouraging the consumption of such products with the…