Saudi Arabia

Despite greater time spent at home at the height of the pandemic, demand for air care notably declined in 2020, as many local consumers, faced with mounting financial pressures, reduced their spending on perceived non-essential home care. In…

Air conditioners in Saudi Arabia have historically benefitted the most in the central region of the country, which is home to some of the biggest and most populous cities, including the capital, Riyadh. The hot weather in the country is also…

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…

Alcoholic drinks in Saudi Arabia in 2023 continued to be characterised by the fact that alcohol is prohibited by Saudi law. As such, all sales in the category come from non-alcoholic beer. Indeed, Saudi Arabia is one of the top ten markets for…

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…

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…

Apparel and footwear is thriving in Saudi Arabia with strong demand stemming from changing fashion trends, consumer preferences, the return of religious pilgrims and tourists, the demand for quality products and government regulations. Moreover, the…

Appliances and electronics specialists in Saudi Arabia experienced steady growth in current value terms in 2023. Factors that contributed to this positive growth included increasing purchasing power, population growth and urbanisation. Furthermore,…

Away-from-home (AFH) tissue and hygiene in Saudi Arabia maintained strong volume and current value growth in 2023. At the end of the review period, AFH tissue continued to rebound from a decline in 2020, caused COVID-19-related measures and…

There has been an increased focus on personal health and hygiene since the pandemic in Saudi Arabia which continued to support demand for a wide range of baby and child-specific products in 2023. Parents are now focusing more on preventive care and…

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.…

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…

Bread remains a key area of staple foods in Saudi Arabia with it being the largest category in both retail volume and current value terms. Bread accompanies many meals and therefore sales are not generally significantly impacted by factors such as…

Many bath and shower products are seen as an essential part of the daily hygiene routines of the local population with bar soap in particular being a relatively mature category. As such, growth in part is linked to population growth. Therefore, sales…

Although the Saudi economy actually contracted in 2023 due to a drop in oil revenue when it came to the Kingdom’s non-oil economy there continued to be growth, with this including spending on beauty and personal care. The retail industry is looking…

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…

Beer in Saudi Arabia in 2023 remained the only relevant category in alcoholic drinks, as non-alcoholic beer is the only AD product allowed to be consumed in the Kingdom. This is due to the strict laws prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic drinks…

Unlike many home care categories in 2023, the average unit price of bleach continued to rise in Saudi Arabia, resulting in more dynamic current value growth compared to retail volume. Nevertheless, demand continued to rise in 2023, as bleach offers a…

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…

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,…

Breakfast cereals is witnessing healthy growth in 2023 and this is mainly due to the normalisation of life in the Kingdom and the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. The re-opening of schools and consumers returning to the workplace has had a…

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…

Cafés/bars was one of the categories in the consumer foodservice industry to be hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic led to the closure of many outlets, especially cafés located in shopping centres, as those were extremely severely…

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…

Cat food dominates pet care sales in Saudi Arabia with the category continuing to see dynamic double-digit growth in value and volume terms in 2023. This is largely due to the growing population pet cats and increasing awareness of the benefits 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…

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…

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…

Retail volume sales of chocolate confectionery are recording stronger growth in 2023 compared to the previous year, due to the growing population, the rise in impulse purchases outside of the home, and the focus of players on expanding the presence…

Consumption and sales of cigarettes in Saudia Arabia in 2023 remained severely impacted by the growing consumer shift from cigarettes to e-vapour products and heated tobacco. The number of consumers quitting smoking cigarettes has been increasing,…

In Saudi Arabia in 2023, volume sales in cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco declined while current value sales saw an only marginal rise. Consumers continued to shift from cigars and cigarillos towards vapes and heated tobacco products. Such…

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…

The government continues to support female empowerment in Saudi Arabia striving for equality between men and women in the workplace, enhancing their rights, support systems and care programmes with the aim of improving their work environment in all…

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…

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…

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…

Consumer appliances is seeing steady overall volume and value growth in Saudi Arabia, supported by ongoing urbanisation in the Kingdom. This is further supported by strong inbound tourism and the growth of various industries in Saudi Arabia, in line…

Other personal lending continues to be an area of interest in Saudi Arabia, as this category primarily constitutes personal loans taken for medical purposes and travelling. This has been particularly prominent since the end of pandemic restrictions…

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…

Stand-alone maintained its dominant position in the Saudi Arabian consumer foodservice market in 2023. The strength of stand-alone locations is largely to do with the convenience and easy access they provide to consumers. There is a growing trend…

The Saudi Arabian consumer foodservice market is expected to witness a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels in value terms in 2023. The market has seen growing consumption and the opening of new outlets, involving both new brands entering the market…

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…

Consumer lending in Saudi Arabia is on the upturn, as the Kingdom has generally recovered from the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreso, due to consumer behaviour and expenditures unwaveringly affected by the pandemic, along with 15% VAT,…

Due in part to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy the Kingdom is experiencing accelerated population growth and internal migration toward concentrated metropolitan areas. This has presented opportunities for quality-focused convenience stores to…

Cooking ingredients and meals witnessed positive growth in volume terms in 2023, thanks to a trend of easing inflation (particularly during the second half of the year) and an increase in the rate of employment, which together had a positive impact…

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…

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.…

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…