Majlis Issue 13 - New Seite 8

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Focus 6 A classic story of success the Gulf food market is growing strongly In the six GCC countries the food market is driven primarily by high population growth higher household income a trend for better quality food and the rapidly growing interest in convenience food With Saudi Arabia and the UAE dominating the food market Germany delivers foodstuff to the value of US 1 2 billion Robert Espey looks in depth at this growing success story GCC Population in 2013 in 1 000 1 Countries Total population Nationals Non Nationals GCC 49 785 25 572 24 213 Saudi Arabia 29 994 20 271 9 723 UAE 2 8 850 1 020 7 830 Qatar 3 1 916 269 1 647 Kuwait 2 3 900 1 230 2 670 Oman 3 855 2 172 1 683 Bahrain 3 1 270 610 660 1 mid year 2 estimate 3 estimate for nationals and non nationals Sources National Statistics Offices In its recent analysis of the GCC food sector the consulting company Alpen Capital predicts that in the period 2012 to 2017 Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates UAE will see an average quantitative growth in food demand of respectively 2 6 and 4 2 per cent Alpen Capital expects an average growth rate of 5 5 per cent for Qatar 3 7 per cent for Oman and 2 9 per cent and 2 1 per cent for Kuwait and Bahrain respectively Market trend forecasts must take into account the special characteristics of population structure in the GCC countries About 40 per cent of the GCC consumers are very low income migrant workers coming from India Pakistan and Bangladesh etc Their consumption also in future will be limited to low cost basic food rice bread etc Regarding the indigenous population only in Qatar Kuwait and the UAE do most of the locals have a high income In contrast to Saudi Arabia Bahrain and Oman where only a minority of the locals can be considered wealthy Here the majority live in modest conditions and the unemployment rates among the young generation are significant especially in Saudi Arabia The local food production in the GCC region covers less than a quarter of the quantitative need The self sufficiency rates in Qatar and Bahrain are less than 10 per cent Saudi Arabia and Oman the top producers among the GCC countries can cover around one third of the local demand Kuwait and the UAE produce around 20 per cent Since agricultural land is very limited and an expansion of the