Economic momentum and media habits are reshaping entertainment across the Middle East. From smartphone-first viewing and streaming take-up to the region’s production capacity and digital distribution shifts, the page connects audience behavior with market scale. You’ll also see how regulation, investment costs, and subscription churn influence which content formats thrive—using evidence from film, TV, and major sports events.
Key Takeaways
- 3.2% average annual GDP growth forecast for the Middle East (2024–2028), supporting expanding consumer and entertainment spend
- $62.5 billion Middle East & Africa video market revenue (2023), reflecting the scale of regional screen entertainment
- Middle East & Africa had 89.6 million mobile broadband subscriptions (2022), enabling mobile video consumption
- Egypt had 85.9 million mobile connections in 2023 (ITU estimate), underpinning high mobile entertainment reach
- 78% of consumers in the Middle East & North Africa region reported using smartphones to watch videos (2022), supporting mobile-first entertainment behavior
- 62% of surveyed users in the UAE reported consuming entertainment via streaming platforms at least once per week (2022)
- Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Program (NTP) targets 100% digital government services by 2025, accelerating digital distribution infrastructure for entertainment business operations
- 200+ film industry professionals supported through the Abu Dhabi Film Festival Talent Campus initiatives in 2023 (as stated in festival impact reporting)
- Egypt’s Film Industry Institute/Academy graduated 3,000+ students since 2016 (cumulative enrollment figure from institute materials), building local film talent for regional entertainment
- $100 million minimum capital requirement for a media company licensing tier in Saudi Arabia (as set by relevant regulatory/licensing frameworks for media activity)
- The weighted average cost of capital for media/telecom in the region averaged 8.2% in 2022 (corporate finance benchmarking published by a regional bank/consulting)
- The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 produced 3.7 billion unique viewers (as estimated by FIFA), with substantial consumption across MENA via broadcaster and digital platforms
- Qatar 2022’s final match reached 130 million viewers in the Middle East & Africa region (as stated in FIFA’s viewing report breakdown)
- SVoD churn in the GCC averaged 3.6% per month in 2023 (industry subscription analytics reported by a media intelligence vendor)
- Egypt had 28.6 million Facebook users in 2023, supporting social media-driven entertainment discovery and marketing effectiveness in the region’s largest audience market
With fast growth, mobile and streaming reach are surging across MENA, driving massive screen entertainment demand.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size5 stats
01
3.2% average annual GDP growth forecast for the Middle East (2024–2028), supporting expanding consumer and entertainment spend
02
$62.5 billion Middle East & Africa video market revenue (2023), reflecting the scale of regional screen entertainment
03
Middle East & Africa had 89.6 million mobile broadband subscriptions (2022), enabling mobile video consumption
04
Turkey generated $6.1 billion in film and TV production output in 2022 (latest available), demonstrating regional competition and production-scale dynamics that affect MENA co-productions
05
Netflix reported 260+ million paid memberships worldwide in Q1 2024, supporting global platform scale that underpins large-scale programming reach into MENA
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
With the Middle East forecast to grow at 3.2% annually from 2024 to 2028 alongside a $62.5 billion video market in 2023 and 89.6 million mobile broadband subscriptions in 2022, the region’s market size for entertainment is set to keep expanding as screen consumption scales.
02 · Category
User Adoption9 stats
01
Egypt had 85.9 million mobile connections in 2023 (ITU estimate), underpinning high mobile entertainment reach
02
78% of consumers in the Middle East & North Africa region reported using smartphones to watch videos (2022), supporting mobile-first entertainment behavior
03
62% of surveyed users in the UAE reported consuming entertainment via streaming platforms at least once per week (2022)
04
3.3 billion hours of content watched on Netflix across MENA in 2023 (includes Middle East & North Africa region reporting as referenced by Netflix’s quarterly communications through third-party analytics summaries)
05
UAE had 9.1 million social media users in 2023 (DataReportal compiled from ITU/UN/other sources), supporting influencer and creator-led entertainment
06
64% of consumers in Saudi Arabia reported using a mobile phone to watch videos in 2022
07
71% of consumers in the UAE reported using mobile phones to watch videos in 2022
08
69% of consumers in Egypt reported using a mobile phone to watch videos in 2022
09
67% of consumers in Morocco reported using a mobile phone to watch videos in 2022
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
With 78% of MENA consumers using smartphones to watch videos and 62% in the UAE streaming at least weekly, user adoption in the region is clearly shifting to mobile and frequent streaming behaviors, while platforms like Netflix reached 3.3 billion hours watched across MENA in 2023.
report visual · Comparison
Smartphone video-watching adoption (2022)
In 2022, UAE consumers led smartphone video-watching adoption at the highest share, outpacing Saudi Arabia (the next closest) by a clear margin.
71% of consumers in the UAE reported using mobile phones to watch videos in 202271%
69% of consumers in Egypt reported using a mobile phone to watch videos in 2022
69%
67% of consumers in Morocco reported using a mobile phone to watch videos in 2022
67%
64% of consumers in Saudi Arabia reported using a mobile phone to watch videos in 2022
64%
source-verifiedbusiness.google.com2022
03 · Category
Industry Trends6 stats
01
Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Program (NTP) targets 100% digital government services by 2025, accelerating digital distribution infrastructure for entertainment business operations
02
200+ film industry professionals supported through the Abu Dhabi Film Festival Talent Campus initiatives in 2023 (as stated in festival impact reporting)
03
Egypt’s Film Industry Institute/Academy graduated 3,000+ students since 2016 (cumulative enrollment figure from institute materials), building local film talent for regional entertainment
04
Israel’s MENA-adjacent theatrical box office growth was 23% YoY in 2023 (trade reporting on regional box office expansion; included for comparability within MENA entertainment markets)
05
Hollywood studio partnerships in the Middle East expanded to 12 co-production initiatives by 2023 (industry press compilation)
06
MENA is expected to become the fastest-growing global e-sports region by 2028 with a projected CAGR of 18% (latest available), reflecting rapid growth in competitive entertainment consumption
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Under the Industry Trends lens, the Middle East’s entertainment ecosystem is accelerating fast, with initiatives driving scale from 12 Hollywood co-production partnerships by 2023 to 18% e-sports growth projected through 2028 and major local talent pipelines reaching 200 plus festival-supported professionals in Abu Dhabi in 2023.
More related reading
04 · Category
Cost Analysis2 stats
01
$100 million minimum capital requirement for a media company licensing tier in Saudi Arabia (as set by relevant regulatory/licensing frameworks for media activity)
02
The weighted average cost of capital for media/telecom in the region averaged 8.2% in 2022 (corporate finance benchmarking published by a regional bank/consulting)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For cost analysis, Saudi Arabia’s $100 million minimum licensing capital and the region’s 8.2% weighted average cost of capital in 2022 together suggest that scaling media and telecom businesses will be constrained by high upfront requirements and relatively elevated financing costs.
05 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 produced 3.7 billion unique viewers (as estimated by FIFA), with substantial consumption across MENA via broadcaster and digital platforms
02
Qatar 2022’s final match reached 130 million viewers in the Middle East & Africa region (as stated in FIFA’s viewing report breakdown)
03
SVoD churn in the GCC averaged 3.6% per month in 2023 (industry subscription analytics reported by a media intelligence vendor)
04
Average time spent watching TV in Saudi Arabia was 5 hours 7 minutes per day in 2023 (Nielsen audience measurement cited in trade press)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show the Middle East’s entertainment reach is massive and sustained, with Qatar 2022 generating 3.7 billion unique viewers and a 130 million viewership surge in the Middle East and Africa, while GCC SVoD churn remains relatively contained at 3.6% per month and Saudi audiences still spend about 5 hours 7 minutes watching TV daily in 2023.
06 · Category
Audience & Consumption2 stats
01
Egypt had 28.6 million Facebook users in 2023, supporting social media-driven entertainment discovery and marketing effectiveness in the region’s largest audience market
02
Meta’s family of apps reached 3.3 billion people globally in 2024 (latest available), supporting the scale of social entertainment discovery and creator monetization across MENA
Interpretation
Audience & Consumption Interpretation
In the Audience and Consumption category, Egypt’s 28.6 million Facebook users in 2023 and Meta’s 3.3 billion global app reach in 2024 underscore how social platforms at massive scale are driving entertainment discovery and engagement across the Middle East and beyond.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Margot Villeneuve. (2026, February 13). Middle East Entertainment Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/middle-east-entertainment-industry-statistics
MLA
Margot Villeneuve. "Middle East Entertainment Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/middle-east-entertainment-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Margot Villeneuve. 2026. "Middle East Entertainment Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/middle-east-entertainment-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
25 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+4 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)