The Middle East Consumer Markets findings of PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey shows that CEOs in this sector are operating in an increasingly complex business environment. Despite being confident of strong economic growth in their territories, sustained tourism and supportive fiscal environments – uncertainty for the year ahead has increased amid a fragmented global landscape. Trade tensions and tariffs are disrupting cost structures, while cyber threats are elevating operational risk. Regional consumer markets leaders also see climate change as a key threat that is likely to reshape supply chains and sourcing strategies in the near term.
But rather than retreating in the face of volatility, CEOs in this sector are committing capital, embedding AI across their value chains, expanding into new industries and reconfiguring supply networks to build resilience. The focus is on capturing opportunity and building more agile, future-ready consumer businesses.
“Consumer Markets leaders in the Middle East are navigating a more demanding environment. Their confidence is grounded in real performance and strong regional fundamentals, not optimism alone. They are committing capital, expanding into adjacencies, embedding AI across their value chains and actively assessing where new value will be created as industry boundaries blur. Even as geopolitical, cyber and climate risks intensify, sustaining this momentum will depend on building resilience into supply chains, protecting trust and continuously adapting business models to capture emerging opportunities as regional and global dynamics rapidly evolve.”
Key findings for the region
% of Middle East Consumer Markets CEOs expect economic growth in their own territory to improve over the next 12 months, up from 63% last year.
% of regional Consumer Markets leaders are very or extremely confident in revenue growth over the next three years, despite softer expectations in the near term.% of business leaders in this sector say their companies have entered new sectors or industries in the past five years, signalling a strong shift towards adjacency-led growth.
% of CEOs in the region’s Consumer Markets sector say their organisations are prepared to anticipate disruption before it occurs, exceeding global preparedness levels.
Confidence anchored in regional growth and long-term outlook
Consumer market CEOs in the Middle East are significantly more upbeat about economic growth in their own territories than last year, and far more confident than their global peers. A striking 90% expect local economic conditions to improve over the next 12 months, up from 63% and 27 percentage points higher than the current global average (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: What do you believe economic growth (i.e. gross domestic product) will be over the next 12 months in your territory?
This divergence points to a resilient domestic demand underpinned by population growth in key economies of the region, sustained tourism inflows and ongoing investment across a broad range of sectors. A youthful demographic profile and rapid digitalisation are further strengthening consumption patterns, with convenience becoming a defining factor. The accelerating penetration of digital aggregators and proprietary e-commerce platforms is making fresh produce and high-quality products more accessible, reinforcing omni-channel purchasing behaviour.
In major markets such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), economic growth remains robust, fuelling demand for premium products and experiences. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies will continue to grow at above-average rates, driven by non-oil sector expansion and sustained investment in logistics and services.1
Retail investment across the Middle East reflects this resilient regional outlook. The GCC’s retail market, valued at approximately US$309.6 billion in 2023, is projected to reach US$386.9 billion by 2028. Developers and operators in the region are expanding and modernising retail environments in the GCC to meet evolving consumer expectations, integrating experiential concepts, digital capabilities and mixed-use formats that blend shopping, entertainment and hospitality.2
Macroeconomic stability is reinforcing this trend. Inflation in GCC economies remains among the lowest globally, reflecting stable exchange rates and prudent fiscal policies, with the average rate for the GCC projected at 1.7 percent in 2025 and 2 percent in 2026, according to the IMF’s October 2025 Regional Economic Outlook.3
This resilient outlook helps explain why Consumer Markets leaders in the region increasingly view regional markets as a source of stability and long-term opportunity. CEOs are placing greater emphasis on intra-regional demand and cross-border expansion within the GCC and wider MENA region, betting that a strong regional growth base can help cushion their businesses against slowing momentum in the US, Europe and China.
This shift reflects a broader move toward regionalism, where deeper economic integration and shared infrastructure are seen as stabilising forces amid persistent global headwinds. According to survey findings, when asked to identify their top three destinations for intra-regional investment, Middle East consumer market leaders cited the UAE (52%), Saudi Arabia (46%) and Egypt (26%).
For Middle East Consumer Market CEOs, while the near-term outlook on revenue growth for their own companies over the next 12 months remains cautious, confidence strengthens significantly over longer horizons. Three quarters of these CEOs say they are very or extremely confident in revenue growth over the next three years, well above global Consumer Markets averages (see Figure 2). This suggests that leaders view current pressures as cyclical rather than structural, with underlying fundamentals supporting sustained long-term growth.
Figure 2: How confident are you about your company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months/ over the next three years?
Leadership behaviour reinforces this longer-term orientation. Regional consumer CEOs dedicate more time to long-term planning (25%) than global peers (14%), with a greater share of their schedules focused on five-year-plus horizons.
Innovation and AI adoption deepens across products, operations and talent
Innovation is seen as a critical component of business strategy for 63% of regional consumer market CEOs. Nearly half (49%) collaborate with external partners to accelerate innovation (see Figure 3), while more than half test new ideas with customers or end users, most likely to refine and scale concepts. They are also more than twice as likely than their global peers (41% vs 18%) to have a defined innovation centre or incubator. This signals a deliberate shift from ad hoc experimentation to more structured innovation models.
But when asked what percentage of their company’s revenue this fiscal year was attributable to new products or services introduced within the last three years, regional consumer market CEOs reported an average of 17%, compared to a global average of 19%.
Figure 3: To what extent do each of the following statements characterise your company’s approach to innovation? (SUMMARY NET: To a large or very large extent)
AI is becoming central to how businesses drive innovation and competitive advantage. Retailers across Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are deploying AI to optimise inventory, improve demand forecasting and personalise customer journeys at scale.
At the same time, as consumers increasingly turn to AI tools to inform purchasing decisions, confidence in AI’s commercial impact continues to strengthen. Layla AI, the first Generative AI-powered beauty assistant in the UAE, offers a clear proof point. It demonstrates how AI can enhance the human dimension of luxury while reinforcing data-driven decision-making.4 In the region, platforms such as Jahez and Noon are using AI to improve food delivery efficiency.5
Consumer Market CEOs in the Middle East are adopting AI at significantly higher rates than their global peers, particularly in customer-facing functions (see Figure 4). AI is being embedded directly into demand generation (53% vs 18% globally), support services such as finance, legal and HR (51% vs 16%), products, services and customer experiences (46% vs 14%), and demand fulfilment (44% vs 15%). This breadth of adoption signals that AI is no longer experimental, it is becoming a core driver of competitive differentiation across the consumer value chain.
Figure 4: To what extent has AI been applied in the following areas of your business?
Confidence in AI readiness is also notably strong. A clear majority of Middle East consumer CEOs say their organisational culture supports AI adoption (84%), their technology environment enables AI integration (76%), their organisation has a clearly defined roadmap for AI initiatives (76%) and their investment levels are sufficient to deliver AI goals (64%) (see Figure 5).
Figure 5: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements relating to AI use at your company? (SUMMARY NET: Agree)
As AI reshapes workforce dynamics, demand for talent continues to intensify. More than half (55%) of regional Consumer Markets CEOs report that their organisations are able to attract high-quality technical AI talent, suggesting relative strength in securing specialised capabilities. More broadly, talent shortages appear less acute in the region: only 14% of regional CEOs report difficulty in finding general talent, less than half the proportion of their global peers.
Findings of the survey also indicate that AI adoption in the Middle East consumer sector is expected to drive workforce expansion rather than contraction, particularly at junior and mid-levels. A striking 78% of Middle East consumer market CEOs anticipate increased junior hiring due to AI adoption (compared with 28% globally), while 71% expect growth at mid-level roles (versus 29% globally). Even at senior levels, expectations of workforce growth remain positive, though more moderate.
Strategically, this indicates that regional consumer market leaders see AI less as a cost-cutting mechanism and more as a catalyst for scaling new capabilities and greater operational sophistication. Rather than displacing talent, AI is creating demand for digitally fluent employees who can manage, interpret and operationalise AI systems. In a region characterised by digitally savvy consumers, CEOs recognise that AI-native talent is essential to elevate customer experience, strengthen analytics, optimise fulfilment and accelerate innovation - all areas that continue to require human judgement, oversight and execution.
Dealmaking expands into adjacent sectors and ecosystems
A significant 88% of Consumer Markets CEOs in the Middle East are planning at least one major acquisition, worth more than 10% of their company’s assets, over the next three years. This far exceeds the global average of 47%, signalling a strong appetite for scale, portfolio expansion and strategic repositioning.
In 2025, the region’s Consumer Markets sector recorded 121 transactions - up approximately 17% from 2024 - as businesses responded to shifting consumer behaviour and rising confidence across key markets. As mentioned, much of this momentum has been underpinned by national transformation agendas prioritising retail modernisation, tourism development and digital-first customer engagement.
Tourism-led demand has, in fact, helped create a stable platform for multi-category consumer businesses, enabling both organic growth and targeted mergers and acquisitions focused on scalable brands and experiential concepts. At the same time, digital commerce continues to deepen. Companies are investing in omnichannel capabilities, data-driven personalisation and enhanced customer experience to keep pace with rapidly evolving expectations.
71% of regional Consumer Markets CEOs say they have entered new sectors or industries over the past five years, significantly above the global average of 45% and up from 47% last year, signalling a clear acceleration toward adjacency-led growth and portfolio diversification (see Figure 6).
PwC’s 2026 Transact Middle East report6 has indicated that consumer goods companies are expanding beyond core categories. Saudi Arabia’s Almarai’s acquisition of Pure Beverages Industry Co for US$277.3 million illustrated this trend. Logistics players are also moving deeper into commerce enablement, as seen in the UAE’s Q Logistics Holding’s acquisition of a 40.5% stake in Aramex, strengthening last-mile and cross-border capabilities and positioning logistics as a strategic growth lever rather than a back-end function.
Meanwhile, retail groups are consolidating scale and deepening ecosystem integration, illustrated by the UAE’s Al Futtaim’s investment in Cenomi Retail to strengthen regional retail platforms. Even inbound partnerships such as the US’s Ulta Beauty’s collaboration with Alshaya Group signal that global brands view the region as an integrated growth ecosystem rather than a standalone retail market.7
Figure 6: In the last five years, has your company begun competing in new sectors or industries in which it hadn’t previously competed?
Among the acquisitions planned over the next three years, 42% of consumer markets CEOs in the Middle East expect more than one-fifth of total deal value to come from sectors outside their core industry, more than double the 20% reported by their global peers. This underscores a more assertive approach to cross-sector expansion and ecosystem positioning in the region.
At the same time, dealmaking remains anchored in competitive strength and growth fundamentals. 65% of regional Consumer Markets leaders are pursuing acquisitions to increase market power, 60% to access new customers, and 58% to expand into new geographies, signalling that M&A is being used not only to diversify, but also to consolidate scale and accelerate market reach.
Financial services, technology, media and communications, and industrials are the most targeted adjacencies, reflecting convergence between consumer brands, digital platforms, payments, logistics and data-enabled services (see Figure 7).
As value shifts across the consumer ecosystem, scale alone is no longer sufficient. Growth increasingly depends on building integrated offerings that combine products, services and experiences.
Figure 7: In which of the following industries (if any), outside of your own, will you seek to grow your business (including partnering with others to do so) over the next three years?
Rising risk sharpens focus on resilience and trust
Consumer Markets CEOs in the Middle East cite geopolitical conflict (44%), climate change (31%) and cyber risks (29%) as their top three threats. While geopolitical instability remains the most cited concern for a second consecutive year, the sharp rise in climate risk, nearly doubling from 16% in 2025, marks a significant shift in boardroom priorities. At the same time, cyber risk remains elevated as digital commerce deepens across the region. Notably, inflation, which dominated in 2025 at 47%, has fallen to 25%, indicating easing short-term cost pressures (see Figure 8).
Figure 8: How exposed do you believe your company will be to the following key threats in the next 12 months?
Additionally, 53% of consumer market CEOs indicated that geopolitical uncertainty (including tariffs) would have little or no impact on their company’s likelihood of making new, large investments, while in the next 12 months a third expect tariffs to negatively impact profit margins in the year ahead.
So how are CEOs in the Consumer Markets sector investing in preparedness? Across the next three years, over half of regional consumer market CEOs plan to increase their focus on improving enterprise-wide cybersecurity, 46% would reconfigure supply chains and 42% reduce reliance on technology providers based in less trustworthy countries (see Figure 9)
Figure 9: To what extent do you expect your company to take each of the following actions in response to potential geopolitical risk, over the next three years? (SUMMARY NET: To a large or very large extent)
That proactive approach is translating into greater confidence when compared to global peers in anticipating disruption and leading effective responses. A notable 56% say they are confident in capturing new opportunities arising from any volatility that may arise (see Figure 10).
Figure 10: To what extent has your C-suite’s leadership prepared your company to take the following actions while navigating major disruptions? (SUMMARY NET: Prepared to a large or very large extent)
What does the next decade look like for Consumer Markets leaders
While our CEO Survey findings reflect the confidence of Consumer Markets leaders across industries in the near and medium term, PwC’s economists have also looked further out to the decade ahead across sectors and analysed how two major global megatrends – AI and climate change - are driving industry reconfiguration (see Figure 11) and the emergence of new domains of growth: markets where companies work across sector boundaries to meet fundamental human needs of how we build, care, feed, fuel, make and move, and how we connect and compute, fund and insure and govern and serve.8
Our analysis shows that in 2025 alone, the Consumer Markets sector faced its second-highest level of pressure in the past 25 years – a clear signal that reinvention is an existential imperative for many organisations.9 For Consumer Markets leaders this signals a shift from operating within traditional sector boundaries to orchestrating value across interconnected systems in the ‘feed’ and ‘make’ domains as geopolitical risk and climate volatility reshape supply chains, AI redefines operating models and changing customer demands accelerate the need for more agile business models.
By 2035, the Middle East’s evolving feed domain could generate US$240bn in value, while the make domain could have a value of US$1,070bn, driven by smarter, more resilient systems that harness AI for productivity gains and embed sustainability at their core.
Figure 12: Industry reconfiguration in the decade ahead
Our analysis shows over the next decade, the Consumer Markets sector faces the second-highest pressure rank relative to the past 25 years, a clear signal that reinvention is an existential imperative for many organisations.9 For leaders this could mean capturing growth in new domains that meet fundamental human needs. By 2035, the Middle East’s evolving feed domain could generate US$240bn in value, while the make domain could have a value of US$1,070bn, driven by smarter, more resilient systems that harness AI for productivity gains and embed sustainability at their core.
In this new environment, CEOs must rethink how value is created, delivered and protected across an interconnected ecosystem, and not within isolated sectors.
Your next move
With confidence anchored in regional fundamentals but risks intensifying, the imperative now is to consolidate scale, redesign retail models and strengthen resilience across supply chains and skills.
Five priorities now stand out for Middle East Consumer Markets CEOs:
Drive strategic consolidation to build local resilience +
CEOs should pursue targeted mergers and acquisitions to build regional platforms with greater scale. This will be critical to defending margins and competing effectively against low-cost import flows across the GCC consumer markets.
Engage proactively on regulation
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Strong regulatory frameworks around quality standards and localisation incentives will shape the future of the Consumer Markets sector. Consumer Markets CEOs should engage proactively with policymakers to ensure import regulations support fair competition.
Streamline operations while investing for growth +
As businesses expand and invest in new capabilities, CEOs must simplify operating models, improve supply chain efficiency and maintain cost discipline to protect margins and sustain long-term competitiveness.
Redesign retail models to convert browsing into buying +
As consumers increasingly visit malls to explore rather than transact, retailers must rethink how physical and digital channels interact. Leaders should invest in omnichannel integration, AI-driven personalisation and seamless fulfilment capabilities to convert footfall into sales. Retail spaces must evolve from purely transactional environments into experience-led destinations that connect in-store engagement with digital purchasing pathways.
Close the sector-specific skills gap through targeted upskilling
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Operational challenges in retaining and upskilling talent remain critical. Leaders should invest in data analytics, AI capabilities and cross-functional training to ensure teams can move from insight to execution quickly. Building internal expertise that links consumer demand, supply chain operations and pricing strategy will be a key differentiator.
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