Diverse products and services.
Online shopping.
Central, easily accessible location.
Competitive prices.

Service sector in GCC countries

According to the macroeconomic theory of sectors, the economy is divided into three main and large sectors: the first; – is the sector that is based on collecting raw materials and includes mining companies, timber companies, oil exploration companies, in addition to agricultural and fishing industries. The second sector; is the sector that depends on goods and their sale, such as: (car manufacturing, furniture, clothing trade… etc.). As for the third sector, known as the “services” sector; it is the sector responsible for providing and producing services, essentially relying on intangible things, such as: entertainment, health care, transportation, hospitality, restaurants, etc. This theory believes that the more advanced countries are, the more their economies are based on the third sector, unlike primitive countries, which rely mostly on the first sector (the United States of America, for example, the service sector constitutes 85% of its economy).

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:

• The service sector is a large sector if we look closely at its activities; the sector includes: wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, transportation, storage, information and communications, financial services, insurance, real estate and business services, collective, social and personal services and finally government services. We will present to you the most important indicators of the sector in the Kingdom below:
• The share of the service sector in Saudi GDP is about 48.2%.
• Wholesale, retail, restaurants and hotels contribute 10.8% to GDP.
• “Transport, Storage, Information and Communication” contributes about 6.6% to GDP.
• The share of the activity “Financial, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services” in GDP is 6.4%.
• For “collective, social and personal services”, its contribution to GDP was 2.5%.
• The contribution of the “government services” activity to GDP is 21.9%.
• According to the latest census, Saudi Arabia issued 100,944 new business licenses the previous year; The total number of business licences issued is 348,173. Recalls that wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor and motorcycle vehicles accounted for the lion’s share of the new licences; With 48,242 permits, accommodation and food services activities came with 16,531 permits and in third place construction and construction activities with 11,521 permits.

The State of Qatar:

• Qatar’s wholesale and retail business is valued at QAR 50,083 million.
• The number of enterprises operating in wholesale and retail trade reaches 11,139, with 213,954 employees.
• Wholesale and retail workers’ compensation amounted to QAR 11,288,877 thousand.
• Establishments operating in hotel and restaurant activity up to 2,396 establishments. The number of employees in these facilities was 78,194.
• Hotel and restaurant workers’ compensation amounts to QAR 2,947,431.
• Number of mobile phone subscribers in Qatar (regular subscription) 976,015 individuals.
• Number of mobile phone subscribers (prepaid services) 2,941,556 individuals.
• The lengths of roads worn the previous year in Qatar are 2224 kilometres.
• The number of driver’s licenses issued last year is 242,923.
• Compensation for transport and telecommunications workers 24,338,223 thousand Qatari riyals.
• Number of insurance policies issued in Qatar last year 715,897.
• Number of enterprises engaged in “business services” activities up to 4,973.
• Number of “Business Services” operators 215,285.
• Compensation for workers in “Business Services” activities exceeds QAR 15,347,819 thousand.
• “Social and personal services” workers in the private sector number up to 80,569.
• Compensation for “social and personal services” workers in the private sector is estimated at QAR 6,127,645 thousand.

Kuwait:

• Wholesale and retail trade contributes approximately KWD 1,644.3 million to the country’s GDP.
• Restaurant and hotel activities contribute KWD 418.6 million to Kuwait’s GDP.
• Transport, storage and communications activities contribute KWD 2,554.5 million.
• The length of roads paved in Kuwait is 91,340,068 m2.

United Arab Emirates:

• Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles contribute 12.3% to GDP (AED 172,288 million).
• Transport and storage activity contributes 5.9% to GDP (AED 82,461 million)
• Accommodation and food services activities contribute 2.3% (AED 32,357 million)
• Information and communications activity contributes 2.9% (AED 41,347 million).
• The contribution of activities and insurance activities to GDP is estimated at 9.6% (AED 134,773 million).
• Number of insurance policies issued 7,584,607 last year’s end documents.
• Wholesale and retail business accounts for 13% of the UAE’s total workforce.
• Transport and storage activities account for 6.2% of the country’s total workforce. Accommodation and catering activities employ about 5% of the total workforce.

Sultanate of Oman:

• The Sultanate’s GDP is RO 29.3 billion.
• Wholesale and retail trade contributes 7% to GDP; AR 2,064.7 million.
• Restaurant and hotel activities contribute 1.1% to GDP; RO 308.6 million.
• Transport, storage and communications activities contribute an estimated 5.9% to GDP; AR 1,721.2 million.

Global Service Sector

The service sector is the major contributor to the world’s gross product; It alone accounts for more than three fifths of this output. The sector does not rely on the production of tangible goods such as automobile and furniture, but rather on the provision of intangible services such as banking, medical care, transportation, hospitality, leisure, etc. The value of the sector market was estimated in 2020 at USD 10,814.49 billion and rose to USD 11,780.11 billion in 2021. The market achieved a CAGR of 8.9%. After recovering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, global market experts expect the sector’s market to reach US $ 15683.84 billion by 2025, bringing the market to a CAGR of 7% in the coming years.