Saudi retail sector seen to grow to over SAR 460B by 2024-end: Minister

Majid Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing

Saudi Arabia’s retail industry will likely grow to cross SAR 460 billion by the end of this year, backed by the market strong demand, said Majed Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing.

The retail sector accounted for 23% of the non-oil gross domestic product (GDP), with the industry reaching 88% in Riyadh and Jeddah in 2023, he added during the 10th edition of the Retail Leaders Circle (RLC) MENA Summit.

The sector is of utmost importance as a key driver in all countries' economy and GDP through diversity of products, quality and availability, higher number of companies, market expansions, growing reach, and business models, whether traditional and digital. This enhances competition and contributes to sustainable economic development, in addition to providing more jobs and introducing investment opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Kingdom developed a number of regulations in support of the retail sector, in addition to some solutions, services and incentive packages of credit facilities to attract investors, he said.

Additionally, the ministry took important steps to develop the retail sector, including enacting regulations, concluding partnerships with the private sector investors, and holding workshops to boost trade as well as investment practices.

The number of the industry active licenses for 2019-2023 reached over 400,000, as the ministry issued a minimum of 70,000 licenses annually, at a fixed growth rate of nearly 6%.