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posted on Jun. 25, 2025 at 12:00 pmJun 25, 2025

MENA’s economic promise builds brand competition in crowded retail marketplace

posted on Jun. 25, 2025 at 12:00 pmJun 25, 2025

"For brands, success hinges on relevance, agility and a deep understanding of consumer expectations,” says NielsenIQ App's Andrey Dvoychenkov.

The Middle East continues to distinguish itself as a global economic outperformer, with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia leading the charge. While global GDP growth is projected at 3.2 per cent in 2025, the UAE is expected to grow by 4 per cent and Saudi Arabia by 3 per cent, with further acceleration anticipated through 2027.
As a result, the region’s economic promise is attracting a surge of global brands. In the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, Saudi Arabia now hosts more than 10.500 active brands (up 5 per cent YoY), while the UAE features 13,000 brands (up 6 per cent). Stock keeping unit (SKU) counts are also rising, with 130,000 SKUs in the UAE and nearly 100,000

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Tags:Andrey Dvoychenkov aspirations Brand consumer Consumer behaviour durables Economy fmcg Insights marketing Middle East NielsenIQ price Promotions retail Saudi Arabia Strategy tech trust UAE

the authorAnup Oommen

Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand’s digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he’s a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world’s leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.