A closer look at Saudi Arabia’s creative economy

The Saudi creative industry is facing a growth paradox. Society is evolving faster than its narratives, and industry demand is expanding faster than the talent pipeline.

But these tensions are signs of a sector being built at scale, in real time. If the next few years focus on authentic storytelling for a layered society and the medium-term cultivation of Saudi creative talent, then the Kingdom will not just build a creative industry; it will develop a distinctly Saudi creative voice.

Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia’s creative industries have moved from the margins to the centre of its national agenda. Advertising, content production, gaming, design and related sectors are no longer peripheral. Guided by Vision 2030, they have become strategic pillars in the Kingdom’s economic and cultural transformation.

The Kingdom’s continued upward trend in global competitiveness rankings reflects these efforts. The latest World Competitiveness Yearbook shows that Saudi Arabia recorded the second-best progress among measured countries, improving across all four pillars: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

The creative economy is part of this advancement. Creative agencies, production houses, investments, and festivals have risen almost simultaneously, and the ambition is clear: to turn creativity into both an economic engine and a tool for national storytelling.

Yet behind this rapid growth are structural challenges that will shape the industry’s trajectory. We need to understand and respond to a newly layered Saudi society with evolving identities, and address the talent mismatch, where demand far outpaces local supply.

A new, layered Saudi society

Saudi Arabia is not changing in a single direction; it is expanding culturally, socially and economically simultaneously.

Global exposure, economic diversification, digital connectivity and social reforms are shaping a new Saudi identity that cannot be decoded at first glance. Today, Saudi consumers may live globally influenced lifestyles while still seeking strong local authenticity.

This has created a layered cultural reality that can appear contradictory without context. Saudis are not abandoning their heritage; they are expressing it differently.

For the creative industry, this presents both opportunity and tension. It enables richer storytelling, more diverse aesthetics, and new creative formats. Yet many brands and institutions still rely on simplified or nostalgic portrayals of Saudi identity, while audiences are already living a more nuanced cultural experience.

The result is a gap between how Saudi Arabia is portrayed and how it is lived. Creative industries are being asked to reflect a society that is more layered, more individualistic, and more globally aware, without losing its cultural roots. Fortunately, this gap has begun to close as the creative industry has developed greater cultural nuance.

Talent mismatch: Demand outpaces supply

The industry is expanding faster than its talent pipeline. For decades, many creative sectors in Saudi Arabia relied heavily on expatriate professionals. With Saudisation policies and Vision 2030 targets, the system is shifting toward a locally driven workforce. The long-term goal is to build a sustainable creative economy powered by Saudi talent.

Saudi talent is advancing. According to the IMD World Talent Ranking 2024, Saudi Arabia ranks 32 out of 67 economies. A closer look shows it ranks 18 in appeal, but 33 in readiness and 54 in labour force growth. The Kingdom has been advancing rapidly in workforce development, but economic growth has outpaced the expansion of the talent base.

Demand for Saudi creatives has risen sharply across agencies, production houses, brand teams, entertainment companies, and government initiatives. Yet the supply of experienced professionals is unable to meet the demand.

This is not a question of potential; it is a question of time. Building a mature creative workforce is a generational process. Mentorship in creative industries requires years of practice, not just academic degrees.

The government has begun addressing this through new creative academies, scholarship programmes, and specialised training initiatives.

One example is the recent partnership between the Ministry of Education, the National Institute for Educational Professional Development, Tatweer Educational Services Company, and Savvy Games Group, which aims to integrate esports and electronic games into the national education system, supporting future skills and career pathways.

These efforts will eventually produce a much larger pool of Saudi creative professionals. But in the short term, the industry faces a structural imbalance: The demand for authentic Saudi creatives is growing, while the supply of experienced talent is still catching up.

Market dynamics are to the advantage of young Saudi creatives as they are living in the golden era of local creative expression. Their talents are in high demand and our industry’s job is to find new ways to cultivate and grow such talent consistently and progressively.

By Fahad AlAhmed, CEO, the fullstop