COUNTRY PROFILE
Discover more about the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC-6) market. Events, resources, and more are linked throughout the profile.
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The Middle East regional market covers the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC-6) members Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia. This regional assessment covers all of these individual markets. Bayt Magazine (United Arab Emirates) reports that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries stand as one of the world’s most economically vibrant regions and control nearly 40% of global oil reserves. These six nations are set to achieve remarkable economic momentum, with projections that indicate a 4.5% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2025. Their strong performance over the last several years proves the vitality of their economic framework.
GCC member countries’ collective strength remains rooted in their hydrocarbon wealth, yet their economic world shows clear signs of diversification. Leading financial institutions express how the GCC economy will grow in 2025, supported by energy market stability and economic transformation initiatives. This growth trajectory sets the Gulf States on a path to prosperity while they advance their ambitious development plans.
Within the GCC, continued investments in economic diversification, particularly across the tourism, real estate, and manufacturing sectors, drove non-oil sector growth in 2024. These gains helped offset the impact of OPEC+ oil production cuts, which significantly affected hydrocarbon output. As a result, non-oil GDP growth averaged 3.7%, outpacing the overall economic growth rate of 1.8%.
Despite recent declines in U.S. export values, much of it attributed to the economic effects of economic uncertainties, OPEC politics, lower oil prices, and COVID-19, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in 2023 remain the 16th and 19th largest markets respectively from the U.S. for processed food products and are frequently in the top 20 of most major processed food export categories. Their import share is 76% of the region’s total, although food products may be transiting through the Emirates into other GCC and/or Middle Eastern markets.
In 2023, U.S. processed food exports to the region declined significantly by 13% to US$1.2 billion. All markets were in double-digit decline, with the exception of the UAE, which grew 7%. In 2024, U.S. processed food exports to the GCC-6 rose 2% to nearly US$1.3 billion. Processed food exports to the region in 2024 included:
Euromonitor has estimated 2024 retail sales in the GCC-6 region packaged food market to US$43 billion, representing an increase of 24.9% and US$8.6 billion from 2020. They also forecast sales of packaged food in the GCC-6 region to reach US$61.3 billion by 2029, an increase of US$14.8 billion and 32% from 2024.
High-growth products in the forecast include:
The GCC confers special trade and investment privileges to member countries. Processed food products manufactured in any of these countries can be exported to other GCC countries duty-free. The GCC formally instituted its Customs Union in 2003. A 5% CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight) across-the-board common external tariff now applies to most imported food and agricultural products that enter from non-GCC suppliers. In 2018, they began applying an additional 5% value-added tax (VAT). So effectively the cost of importing to a buyer has now doubled and also limits consumer spending.
