GCC beauty shopping is shifting fast, and the digital pull is getting stronger. In 2023, between 37% and 45% of consumers across Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Oman bought beauty and personal care products online, while 28% followed beauty influencers and 31% said they purchase based on influencer recommendations. Add in that global cosmetics hit about $88.5 billion and mobile drives roughly 68% of e-commerce traffic, and you can see why pricing, content habits, and even app usage are becoming part of the product itself.
Key Takeaways
- 42% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Kuwait survey.
- 45% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Saudi Arabia survey.
- 39% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 UAE survey.
- In 2023, the global cosmetics market revenues were about $88.5 billion.
- In 2023, the global skincare market grew at about 8.6% year over year (YoY).
- In 2023, counterfeit cosmetics were estimated to account for about 5% of the global cosmetics market value.
- The Dubai retail e-commerce market reached $2.3 billion in 2023.
- Saudi Arabia’s VAT rate is 15%, affecting beauty product pricing.
- In 2023, the average global skincare price index increased by about 3.8% YoY (inflation pressures on personal care).
- In 2024, the global cost of acquiring a customer (CAC) in e-commerce increased relative to the prior year in a marketing benchmarks report (median CAC rise of 5%).
- In 2022, the value of the GCC’s cosmetic and toiletries imports reached about $6.4 billion.
- In 2022, the value of cosmetics and toiletries imports for Saudi Arabia reached about $3.1 billion.
- In 2022, the value of cosmetics and toiletries imports for the UAE reached about $1.2 billion.
Across the GCC, online beauty buying is rising, driven by social media influence and mobile first commerce.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption10 stats
01
42% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Kuwait survey.
02
45% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Saudi Arabia survey.
03
39% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 UAE survey.
04
41% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Qatar survey.
05
37% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Oman survey.
06
In 2023, GCC consumers were reported to spend 1–3 hours per week on beauty-related online content on social media.
07
In 2023, 28% of GCC consumers followed beauty influencers on social media.
08
In 2023, 31% of GCC consumers reported that they purchase beauty products based on influencer recommendations.
09
In 2023, 27% of GCC consumers used beauty apps for skincare routines.
10
In 2023, 24% of GCC consumers used a hair-care app or digital tool for product selection.
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
Across the GCC, online beauty buying is already widespread, with purchase rates ranging from 37% to 45% depending on the country, and this is reinforced by strong social and app adoption such as 28% following beauty influencers and 27% using skincare apps in 2023.
02 · Category
Industry Trends4 stats
01
In 2023, the global cosmetics market revenues were about $88.5 billion.
02
In 2023, the global skincare market grew at about 8.6% year over year (YoY).
03
In 2023, counterfeit cosmetics were estimated to account for about 5% of the global cosmetics market value.
04
In 2023, the global haircare market revenues were about $102.2 billion.
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In the GCC beauty industry, strong category momentum is clear with the global skincare market up 8.6% YoY in 2023 alongside $88.5 billion cosmetics and $102.2 billion haircare revenues, but the trend is tempered by counterfeit cosmetics reaching about 5% of the market value.
03 · Category
Market Size1 stats
01
The Dubai retail e-commerce market reached $2.3 billion in 2023.
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
For the market size angle, Dubai’s retail e-commerce reached $2.3 billion in 2023, signaling a large and growing baseline for GCC beauty brands competing in online sales.
More related reading
04 · Category
Cost Analysis4 stats
01
Saudi Arabia’s VAT rate is 15%, affecting beauty product pricing.
02
In 2023, the average global skincare price index increased by about 3.8% YoY (inflation pressures on personal care).
03
In 2024, the global cost of acquiring a customer (CAC) in e-commerce increased relative to the prior year in a marketing benchmarks report (median CAC rise of 5%).
04
In 2023, global advertising spend on beauty was estimated to exceed $20 billion (contributing to brand marketing costs).
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For cost analysis in the GCC beauty market, rising VAT at 15% in Saudi and ongoing inflation that lifted the global skincare price index by 3.8% YoY in 2023, alongside e commerce CAC up a median 5% in 2024 and beauty ad spend topping $20 billion in 2023, point to steadily higher total acquisition and marketing costs for brands.
05 · Category
Performance Metrics8 stats
01
In 2022, the value of the GCC’s cosmetic and toiletries imports reached about $6.4 billion.
02
In 2022, the value of cosmetics and toiletries imports for Saudi Arabia reached about $3.1 billion.
03
In 2022, the value of cosmetics and toiletries imports for the UAE reached about $1.2 billion.
04
In 2022, the value of cosmetics and toiletries imports for Egypt reached about $4.0 billion (benchmark outside GCC).
05
In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s cosmetics and toiletries imports grew by about 12% year over year (imports for HS 3304).
06
In 2023, Instagram had about 2.0 billion monthly active users globally, supporting beauty brand engagement in GCC markets.
07
In 2023, TikTok had about 1.0 billion monthly active users globally, supporting short-video beauty discovery.
08
In 2023, mobile commerce accounted for about 68% of global e-commerce traffic, increasing the mobile-first performance needs for beauty sites.
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show that in 2022 GCC cosmetic and toiletries imports totaled about $6.4 billion with Saudi Arabia alone at roughly $3.1 billion, while digital reach in 2023 from 2.0 billion Instagram users and 1.0 billion TikTok users combined with mobile commerce driving about 68% of global e commerce traffic underscores that beauty brands in the region must be optimized for mobile-first engagement to sustain import-led market growth.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Nathan Caldwell. (2026, February 13). Gcc Beauty Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gcc-beauty-industry-statistics
MLA
Nathan Caldwell. "Gcc Beauty Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/gcc-beauty-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Nathan Caldwell. 2026. "Gcc Beauty Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gcc-beauty-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
27 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+17 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)