The market of Saudi Arabia

Would you like to expand your activities to Saudi Arabia?

According to World Bank’s statistics, related to 2020, the GDP of the country was estimated to be 700 billion $ , the per capita GDP was 19,029 $ and the population 34,813,867 residents. The population has been increasing at almost 1,59% on an annual base and it has been estimated to approach 45.35 million by the year 2060. In contrast with the UAE,where the locals are a small minority, in Saudi Arabia, the locals represent 60% while other national minorities come mostly from Syria, India, Pakistan and in general from Africa and Asia, the majority of them being Muslims.

What’s the import’s value in the country? In 2020, according to World Bank’s statistics, the value of the imported goods had reached 182 billion $ and of the food imports 35,2 billion $. Country’s climate and location do not foster food production and that’s the reason why 80% of food’s demand is been served by imports and 20% is been served by the local production. As Saudi Arabia is a member of the economic union ‘’GAFTA’’, the companies with HQ there, have the chance to export to gulf countries with zero tariffs so ingredients’ demand is also considerable.

You can find below more information regarding Saudi’s Arabia food consumption:

• An average person consumes 47 kg of chicken and 123 eggs annually (according to 2020’s statistics), consequently it’s one of the biggest markets of poultry products worldwide.
• Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, consumers have focused on consuming healthy food and the demand for organic, vegan, and gluten free food with high protein rose.
• Consumers may choose other brands to increase their value for money.
• One product is more likely to be preferred when its package has a big or a small size in comparison with a product that has a medium size package.
• E-commerce plays an important role in business.

The legislation of Saudi Arabia

Since the end of 2020, the public organization Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) is in charge of the evaluation and the approval of halal certifiers (through the Halal Center HC), while the previous years the Muslim body Muslim World League with HQ in Mecca was in charge.

Thenceforth, the procedure has been facilitated and as a result nowadays around 80 certification bodies worldwide have been accredited, one of them being Halal Assurance & Quality Greece with Headquarters in Thessaloniki.

Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) is the local body that also plans and imposes the regulations and standards, concerning food, sea food, fresh products, animal feed and their imports from third countries.

In the last years many new regulations, standards and instructions  have been applied at a fast rate. Some of them concern the certification bodies in the countries of the products origine, registration of exporters of some food products, registration of all imported products byt the importers, the obligation of having specific documents during the import and the packaging instructions of the products. It is certain that more regulative decisions willbe implemment, therefore in the following months and years we will see new developments.

Some of the demands include:

• The approval of the responsible national bodies in the countries of origin of the animal-derived products (see here products and bodies by country)

• The registration, of the importer on his own e-account, of all the products that are to be imported, otherwise they will not be allowed to enter the market

• The existence of halal certificates (annual and batch if needed) from approved certification bodies (e.g. HAQ Greece) for every type of product, according to the following standards:
•       GSO 2055-1/2015 for food and beverages suitable for Muslims
•       GSO number 993:2015 “Animal Slaughtering Requirements According to Islamic Law” for animal-derived products

• Certified hygienic standards for fresh products
• Other certificates for specific sectors (e.g. special food, food for kids, animal feed etc.)
• The packages must comply with the GSO 9:2013 standard “Labeling of Prepackaged Food Stuffs”

In case you want to learn more details regarding the legislation and the imports you could visitthe following links :

Conditions & Requirements for Importing Food to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2021-12/SFDA78987e.pdf

USDA, Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards Country Report, 31-12-2021: https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/saudi-arabia-food-and-agricultural-import-regulations-and-standards-country-report 

See more info about the accreditation of HAQ Greece in the gulf area.

See in our youtube channel videos on our halal / kosher / vegan & vegetarian certifications

You can see here more info about Greekexports’ offices in other countries.

Contact us

Contact us in GREEKEXPORTS, by calling us in +30 2310 474115 or by email in exports@greekexports.org

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