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MENA Region General :
- More than 600,000 new hotel rooms will enter the market by 2010/11 in greater MENA region (according to Jones Lang LaSalle)
- Main focus across the GCC is now on budget hotels
- Fastest growing tourism market in the world
- Annual growth in terms of tourist arrivals at +10% (WTO)
- Foodservice market worth $31 billion annually
- UAE third largest re-exporter in the world
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SAUDI ARABIA:
- Accounts for 47% of GCC economy (#1)
- Population: 24million including 7million permanent non-Saudi residents
- Population growing at 2.5% annually (will exceed 40mil by 2030)
- 70% under age of 30
- Prefer western style food
- WTO member since 2005
- Agreement to ease trade restrictions & improve trade & investment opportunities
- Largest importer of agri, fish & forestry products amongst GCC countries
- $7bn import market for food & agri products
- $3.5bn import market of consumer-oriented products
- Growing 5% annually
- Expecting 8million pilgrims in 2010
- Makkah (32.7%rev growth) & Jeddah (30.3%rev growth) amongst 3 biggest hotel markets in Middle East
- No import tax on processed food products manufactured in GCC countries
- Only 5% import tax on most food & agri products from non-GCC
- Major import partners : US 12.4%, China 10.6%, Japan 7.8%, Germany 7.5%, Italy 4.9%, South Korea 4.7%, UK 4.2% (2008)
- Over 90% of foodstufs imported - growing food manufacturing sector
- Local Food Processing Sector expanding rapidly with attractive financing and subsidies from Government - high demand for health products due to widespread obesity (one of highest rates of diabetes in the world)
- Over 300 Hyper & Supermarkets
- Some of the major chains : Panda, Carrefour, Geant, Tamimi Markets, Danube, Al Sadhan
- Panda alone is to increase outlets to 130 by end 2010
- Carrefour & Geant plan to tripple number of outlets by 2015 (currently 9 Hypermarkets each)
- Banned Products: alcohol, live swine, pork & foodstuff ingredients or additives that contain pork products, incl pork fat, lard & gelatin, donkey & mule meat, frog legs, poppy seeds, hemp seeds, hops, swine leather
QATAR:
- One of the world's fastest growing economies
- Projections for 2009 = 10.2% growth & 2010 = 12% growth
- Real GDP will grow at rate of 16.4% in 2009
- Construction sector poised for more that 17% yoy growth in 2009
- Tourism one of the most important sectors in Qatar
- US$17bn investment into tourism infrastructure
- Total of 80,000 new hotel rooms available by 2016
- Very high GDP per capita = US$ 101,000
- Transforming itself into industrial state by investing US$ 130bn in current & new sectors
- Qatar Airways
- 5*Airline, linking Qatar to 84 global destinations
- Ranks 3rd amongst 57countries analysed on how well the economies are equipped to tackle recession(after Denmark & Singapore)
KUWAIT:
- Accounts for 14% of GCC economy
- Extremely wealthy GCC state
- Over 60% of population are expats
- Demands for divers food products
- Over 95% of foodstufs imported
- Free trade port in norther Babiyan under construction, with major destinations in Iran & Iraq (over 100mil consumers)
EGYPT :
- Food retail sales shows strong growth over past 10years
- Varying between 5-15%
- Food retail sector continues rapid development
- Began with opening of 27 metro outlets = local supermarket chain
- Spending power of population increasing
- Carrefour - future plans to open 18 stores by 2019 (already 4 in Cairo & Alexandria)
- Major outlets in Egypt expanding rapidly (currently 550) : Carrefour, Spinneys, El-Maadi Outlet
- Population: 76million (2008)
- Demand for ready-made foods increasing rapidly
- Food & Agri imports (2007): US$ 27bn
- Tariff reduction in Feb 2007 and less complicated customs clearance now encourage chains to stock more imported foods
- Dominant suppliers of consumer-ready food products to Egypt: USA, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Holland, Denmark and recently also Thailand & China
INDIA :
- 1billion population
- Food processing & agri business sector growing at 9-12%
- Fruit & vegetable processing to shoot up to 10% by 2010 & 25% by 2025
- Ranks 1st in global retail index (most potential lucrative market in the world for retailers, 2. Russia, 3. China, 4. UAE, 5. Saudi Arabia)