Saudi Arabia

Sales of large cooking appliances are supported by overall demand due to population growth in the Kingdom. As seen in other essential consumer appliance categories (eg refrigeration appliances), large cooking appliances benefit from the various…

Despite a further drop in value sales in 2023, in line with a weakening average unit price, laundry care remained the largest category in home care in Saudi Arabia. Within laundry care, laundry detergents remained the dominant category with powder…

Vision 2030 is making Saudi Arabia one of the most attractive markets for investors worldwide. The goals of Vision 2030 are to increase the appeal of Saudi Arabia, not least in terms of entertainments like consumer foodservice. Prior to the COVID-19…

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…

Mass beauty and personal care continued to see strong growth in current value terms in 2023, albeit slightly slower than in the previous year as the country’s economy contracted. With the pandemic being declared over in early 2023 more consumers…

Meals and soups witnessed positive growth in volume terms in 2023, thanks to the normalisation of consumer lifestyles post-pandemic, including the reopening of schools and the return of consumers to their physical workplaces. The number of women in…

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…

An increasing number of Saudi men are now considering using men’s grooming products to help them to create the best versions of themselves. Saudi men want to be well groomed but want to follow simple and relatively quick routines to achieve this. As…

Within menstrual care in Saudi Arabia, sustainable products are becoming increasingly popular, in line with the global trend. These products are designed to be eco-friendly and reduce waste, compared to traditional disposable menstrual care products.…

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,…

Microwaves have evolved from appliances of dubious reputation which simply eat food, to versatile products which offer a variety of options. Indeed, modern microwaves can bake, grill, heat and defrost, thereby combining baking and microwaving tasks…

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…

Inflation has had an impact on nappies/diapers/pants in Saudi Arabia, leading to increased costs for manufacturers and retailers. This is because prices of raw materials and the costs of transportation and production factors have increased due to…

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,…

Thanks to the combined efforts of the government, schools, oral care brands, dentists, paediatricians, and pharmacists, consumers are now more aware than ever of the importance of a regular oral care routine. These factors combined with the increased…

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…

While sales of tea and coffee continue to blossom the same cannot be said for other hot drinks which has posted a steep decline in retail volume terms in 2023. Sales have been in decline since the government introduced a sugar tax of 50% in 2019. In…

Other pet food continues to see dynamic growth in value and volume terms in 2024, continuing the patter seen in the second half of the review period. This dynamism is in part thanks to the increasing openness of the culture in the Kingdom with…

In 2022, PET bottles remained the preferred choice for cooking and table sauce packaging in Saudi Arabia due to their cost-effectiveness, durability, lightweight properties and affordability in production and transportation. In chocolate…

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…

In a cross-category trend, Dyson’s new pop-up stores across Riyadh and Jeddah, allow consumers to test personal care appliances prior to purchase. The pop-ups are cited as test stores, situated across malls (Panorama Mall, Nakheel Mall, Granada Mall,…

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…

Pet care continues to see dynamic double-digit growth in value and volume terms in Saudi Arabia with it having become one of the most dynamic industries in the Kingdom. This dynamism is being driven by the huge investment made by major pet care…

The pandemic had a huge impact on pet ownership in Saudi Arabia and also led to rising awareness of pet health issues as well. In 2019 the pet population in Saudi Arabia was 1.4 million, but by the end of the pandemic in 2023 this number had doubled…

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…

Already starting to emerge as a trend in Saudi Arabia earlier in the review period, the pandemic heightened local consumers’ awareness of their health and wellbeing and encouraged them to review their dietary and nutritional requirements. Although…

Demand for polish continued to rise in 2023, following the retail volume declines of 2020 due to pandemic-induced home seclusion. The latter resulted in waning interest in polishing one’s footwear, for instance, with the latter experiencing the…

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…

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…

Premium beauty and personal care witnessed more dynamic growth in current value terms in 2023 than mass beauty and personal care. There were a number of factors behind this, although one of the major ones was the increased number of tourists. With…

Saudi Arabia mainly imports its potatoes from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Egypt. However, during the second half of 2022 there were difficulties in importing potatoes from these countries as they experienced poor harvests due to unfavourable…

After recording a decline in 2021, retail unit volumes of processed fruit and vegetables packaging returned to growth in 2022. The previous year’s decline was largely due to the normalisation in demand following a huge boom in 2020, when consumers…

In 2022, retail unit volume sales of processed meat and seafood packaging in Saudi Arabia notably increased compared to the previous year’s flat performance, as local consumers resumed their regular, out-of-home lifestyles after the pandemic and…

Processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat is witnessing healthy growth in current value and retail volume terms in 2023, continuing the pattern seen in 2022. This positive performance is mainly due to life getting back to normal with consumers…

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…

Saudi Arabia boasts one of the largest home appliances markets in the Middle East region, owing to consumers’ enhanced lifestyles and strong purchasing power, thanks to thanks to increasing job security, more women and youth in the workforce, and the…

Retail adult incontinence in Saudi Arabia, despite continued overall healthy retail volume and current value growth in 2023, remained constrained by a number of factors. One is the taboo surrounding adult incontinence, with many sufferers still too…

Retail e-commerce in Saudi Arabia has seen huge gains with sales having more than doubled since 2019 in current value terms. This is largely attributed to the digital adoption wave and evolving shopping preferences, especially among millennials. The…

Retail in Saudi Arabia continued to experience positive growth in current value terms in 2023 with the end of the pandemic and improved consumer confidence helping to encourage spending. Although the Saudi economy actually contracted in 2023 due to a…

Retail tissue in Saudi Arabia continued to register retail volume and current value growth in 2023, although it face challenges, such as raw material availability and environmental sustainability. Meanwhile, the government's commitment to local…

Noodles is the smallest category within rice, pasta and noodles in retail volume terms, but it is seeing healthy growth in Saudi Arabia in 2023. These products have found appeal among busy consumers looking for a quick snack or meal option.…

Sales of RTD coffee rose sharply from a low base over the review period with locals becoming increasingly aware of these products and sales have continued to see dynamic growth in 2023 in off- and on-trade volume terms. Starbucks Iced Coffee has…

RTD tea is a relatively niche category in Saudi Arabia with it being the smallest soft drinks category in retail volume terms in 2023. Nonetheless, the category has continued to post strong growth both through the off- and on-trade channels. The…

Following a two-year period of decline, sauces, dips and condiments returned to positive growth in retail volume terms in 2023. In 2021 and 2022, demand was negatively impacted by disruptions to the global supply chain, which pushed up production…

After the effects of the pandemic and subsequent restrictions started to ease in Saudi Arabia in 2021, retail unit volume sales of sauces, dips and condiments and associated packaging suffered as consumers spent less time cooking at home. However, in…

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 market for savoury snacks in Saudi Arabia is expected to see another year of robust growth in retail volume terms in 2024, thanks to the revival of busy pre-pandemic lifestyles, especially with more women joining the workforce, and an increase in…

The self-service cafeterias category is expected to achieve a full recovery to a pre-pandemic level of value sales in 2023 and is expected to maintain healthy growth over the forecast period due to the growing number of expats entering the kingdom,…

Skin care continued its revival in 2023 having seen declining volume sales during the early years of the review period. With the pandemic over the local population increased with foreign workers returning to the Kingdom in search of employment…

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…