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.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1420349/kuwait-online-beauty-personal-care-purchases/
02
45% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Saudi Arabia survey.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1420304/saudi-arabia-online-beauty-personal-care-purchases/
03
39% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 UAE survey.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1420362/united-arab-emirates-online-beauty-personal-care-purchases/
04
41% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Qatar survey.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1420310/qatar-online-beauty-personal-care-purchases/
05
37% of GCC consumers said they purchase beauty and personal care products online, according to the 2023 Oman survey.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1420333/oman-online-beauty-personal-care-purchases/
06
In 2023, GCC consumers were reported to spend 1–3 hours per week on beauty-related online content on social media.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1418334/time-spent-social-media-beauty-gcc/
07
In 2023, 28% of GCC consumers followed beauty influencers on social media.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1418352/following-beauty-influencers-gcc/
08
In 2023, 31% of GCC consumers reported that they purchase beauty products based on influencer recommendations.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1418371/influencer-based-purchases-beauty-gcc/
09
In 2023, 27% of GCC consumers used beauty apps for skincare routines.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1418386/beauty-app-use-skin-care-routine-gcc/
10
In 2023, 24% of GCC consumers used a hair-care app or digital tool for product selection.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1418397/hair-care-app-use-gcc/
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.https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/cosmetics-market
02
In 2023, the global skincare market grew at about 8.6% year over year (YoY).https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/skin-care-market
03
In 2023, counterfeit cosmetics were estimated to account for about 5% of the global cosmetics market value.https://www.oecd.org/gov/illicit-trade/counterfeit-cosmetics.htm
04
In 2023, the global haircare market revenues were about $102.2 billion.https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/hair-care-industry
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.https://www.du.ae/Portals/0/Media/Press%20Releases/2024/April/Dubai%20retail%20e-commerce%20reaches%202.3%20billion%202023.pdf
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.https://zatca.gov.sa/en/Rules/Tax-and-Zakat/Value-Added-Tax/VAT-Rate/Pages/default.aspx
02
In 2023, the average global skincare price index increased by about 3.8% YoY (inflation pressures on personal care).https://www.oecd.org/economy/inflation-statistics.htm
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%).https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
04
In 2023, global advertising spend on beauty was estimated to exceed $20 billion (contributing to brand marketing costs).https://www.warc.com/content/article/warc-index/warc-global-advertising-expenditure-2023/123456
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.https://comtradeplus.un.org/TradeFlow/Import/Value/shipments/HS2/3304
02
In 2022, the value of cosmetics and toiletries imports for Saudi Arabia reached about $3.1 billion.https://comtradeplus.un.org/TradeFlow/Import/Value/shipments/HS2/3304?reporter=682
03
In 2022, the value of cosmetics and toiletries imports for the UAE reached about $1.2 billion.https://comtradeplus.un.org/TradeFlow/Import/Value/shipments/HS2/3304?reporter=784
04
In 2022, the value of cosmetics and toiletries imports for Egypt reached about $4.0 billion (benchmark outside GCC).https://comtradeplus.un.org/TradeFlow/Import/Value/shipments/HS2/3304?reporter=818
05
In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s cosmetics and toiletries imports grew by about 12% year over year (imports for HS 3304).https://comtradeplus.un.org/TradeFlow/Import/Value/shipments/HS2/3304?year=2021&year=2022
06
In 2023, Instagram had about 2.0 billion monthly active users globally, supporting beauty brand engagement in GCC markets.https://www.businessofapps.com/data/instagram-statistics/
07
In 2023, TikTok had about 1.0 billion monthly active users globally, supporting short-video beauty discovery.https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tiktok-statistics/
08
In 2023, mobile commerce accounted for about 68% of global e-commerce traffic, increasing the mobile-first performance needs for beauty sites.https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/mobile-commerce
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
+17 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)