The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region—made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—has become an important foothold for beauty in recent years. Renowned for its rich fragrance heritage and higher-than-average beauty spend, multinationals from all over the world are paying close attention.
It's also an important region in size and growth terms. Across the six countries, beauty and personal care is forecast to be worth $18.9 billion by 2030, up from $14.3 billion in 2025, according to Euromonitor International. The market across the region will grow at a CAGR of 5.7% between 2025 and 2030, with every market also individually set to grow. As the momentum continues, so too will global interest.
GCC-born brands like Armaf, Huda Beauty, and Moonglaze now operate on the global stage and international brands like L'Oréal Groupe, The Estée Lauder Companies, and Sephora are moving in to grab a slice of regional beauty spend. Trends rooted in the region are also gaining worldwide momentum. Searches, views, and posts related to Arabian perfume across Google, TikTok, and Instagram, for example, are up 48% year over year in the US, according to Spate data.
Amna Abbas, Senior Research Consultant at Euromonitor International, said the importance of the GCC region for beauty and fragrance brands has grown and evolved significantly in recent years, morphing from a strategically important consumption market to an “innovation hub.”
Suppliers, understandably, are ramping up their presence in the GCC to serve the influx of growth and innovation coming from both international and regional brands.
The local supplier and contract manufacturer ecosystem is “growing and relatively stable,” Abbas said, with brands sourcing regional, niche ingredients, executing faster turnaround times, delivering market-specific customization, and cost efficiencies. Many brands, however, are still turning to international suppliers for specialized ingredients, formulation and fragrance development, quality assurance and regulatory support, and advanced manufacturing services. “Many brands are adopting a hybrid approach that relies on large global suppliers for core needs while partnering with local specialists to enhance flexibility, innovation, and regional relevance," she said.
Today, most of beauty's biggest international ingredient and fragrance suppliers have on-the-ground presence in the GCC region, either via innovation hubs, sales offices, or regional business headquarters. And the majority are betting on the UAE's business and financial hub, Dubai.
Valued for its business-forward policies and world-class infrastructure, the city offers a solid base for ingredient and fragrance manufacturers looking to serve the wider GCC region and Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific markets. Dubai also sits in the UAE, the GCC region's second-largest market valued at $3.4 billion in 2025 and set to grow to $4.3 billion by 2030, according to Euromonitor International.
Dubai-based nonprofit Multinational Companies Business Group (MCBG) said the city's role as a global business, investment, and trade hub is “becoming ever more pivotal.” The industry working group, established in 2016 under the umbrella of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, already represents several major beauty suppliers and brands operating there: BASF, Beiersdorf, Givaudan, Henkel, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal Groupe, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever.
“Dubai's attractiveness stems from a unique combination of connectivity, infrastructure, and a business-friendly environment. Located at the crossroads between East and West, the emirate offers world-class logistics, access to regional and international markets, strong intellectual property protection, and a highly international talent pool representing more than 200 nationalities,” said Ramy Zaki, CEO of MCBG.
The UAE government, like many governments across the GCC, also continues to make economic diversification a strategic priority and is working hard to foster an environment that “supports investment and innovation,” Zaki said. Various initiatives are testament to this, including the UAE Vision 2031, Dubai Economic Agenda D33, and Saudi Vision 2030, which create “new opportunities across consumer sectors, including beauty and personal care,” he said.
When it comes to beauty and personal care in Dubai, many suppliers have opened new facilities in the last five years.
Givaudan, for example, one of the world's largest fragrance manufacturers based in Switzerland, invested $5.5 million in 2024 to open its Innovation Hub for flavors and fragrances in the city, featuring laboratories, a co-creation space, and a dedicated consumer and sensory insights center. In 2023, German flavor and fragrance major Symrise inaugurated its Jardin Arabia fine fragrance hub, an exclusive co-creation space designed to strengthen presence and innovation in fragrances across the Middle East. In 2022, specialty chemicals major Clariant, headquartered in Switzerland, opened two new facilities in Dubai: a technical center focused on oils for the EMEA region and a competence center dedicated to work on the decarbonization of minerals. In the same year, Swiss-Dutch multinational chemical company DSM-Firmenich opened a scientific R&D center in Dubai, designed to service customers across the Middle East and Africa with advanced creation and sampling operations.
Global group International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has had an innovation presence for even longer, opening a dedicated facility in Dubai in 2011, for creation and application work across fragrances and flavors.
But Dubai isn't the only place suppliers want to be.
Priya Sarma, Vice-Chair of MCBG and Regional Head of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Unilever, said progress has been made across the wider GCC region in “simplifying business regulations, liberalizing foreign ownership frameworks, and encouraging local manufacturing and value creation.”
And a lot of this is thanks to collaboration between industry and government strengthening considerably in recent years, Sarma said. Authorities across the GCC markets are increasingly open to consultation with industry stakeholders to develop “practical and effective policies,” she said, with sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, for example, becoming “increasingly embedded in policy discussions.”
Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia—the GCC's largest market population-wise at 34.6 million people—is another spot suppliers are investing in. Saudi Arabia, Sarma said, is a market seeing “growing investment in own-manufacturing and contract-manufacturing capabilities,” which reflects the country's broader ambition to build “more resilient and diversified value chains.”
For the most part, ingredient and fragrance companies have set up offices or production sites here: IFF, Dow, Solvay, and Evonik are just a few examples. But others are now looking to this city for innovation sites. This year, DSM-Firmenich inaugurated a fine fragrance center in Riyadh, which aims to get closer to the market and to offer a “hub for inspiration, experimentation, and storytelling,” according to the company.
And it makes sense to get close to Saudi Arabia's fragrance market—the highest-value fragrance category in the entire GCC region, valued at $2.9 billion in 2025, according to Euromonitor International. Saudi Arabia is also the largest beauty and personal care market in the GCC, by far, valued at $8.1 billion in 2025 and forecast to surge to $11.2 billion by 2030.
Much of this value and growth is linked to elevated consumption and appetite for fragrances and beauty here. According to Mintel, fragrance is the most-used beauty and personal care category in Saudi Arabia, ahead of oral care and haircare. “Fragrance dominates beauty and personal care routines in Saudi Arabia,” said Shiyan Zering, Senior Beauty and Personal Care Research Analyst at Mintel. “In the MENA region, scent is more than an accessory; it's a cultural ritual tied to identity and celebration. This deep-rooted passion drives significant spending on perfumes, from heritage blends to trending launches.”
Spending across the wider beauty category is also up in Saudi Arabia, according to Mintel, with 65% of adults spending more money on beauty and grooming products and 57% spending more on professional beauty or grooming treatments in 2025. Alongside this, however, “value consciousness is rising,” Zering said. “Consumers seek longevity and quality without excessive markups, creating a unique dynamic where luxury aspirations meet practical considerations,” she said. “For brands entering this market, success depends on balancing prestige cues with accessible pricing, while honoring the cultural significance of fragrance.”
The wider beauty and personal care category in Saudi Arabia is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% between 2026-2030—the highest predicted growth in the GCC region, just behind Qatar at 6.9%, according to Euromonitor International.
Beyond brand growth and elevated beauty consumption, the GCC holds strong on the global stage for the export and trade of some of the world's most sought-after ingredients. The global beauty and fragrance industry imports several ingredients associated with GCC countries, most notably frankincense, myrrh, and oud (agarwood), with the region also considered a strong trading hub for the latter.
“These ingredients are highly valued in luxury perfumery, skincare, and wellness products for their distinctive aromas and perceived therapeutic properties,” said Euromonitor's Abbas. “Omani Frankincense, particularly from the Arabian Peninsula, is also used in anti-aging and soothing skincare formulations due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics, while oud remains one of the most sought-after premium fragrance ingredients globally.”
A raft of other native Arab ingredients are central to the region's ingredient trade. Black seed [Nigella sativa], Sidr leaves [Ziziphus jujuba], henna, olive, and Arabian mountain honey all form an integral part of Arab beauty formulas—important, given interest is rising globally.
Arab beauty, or A-beauty, is rooted in culture and local ingredients and relies heavily on regional influencers to share brand stories worldwide. Beyond halal, natural, and high-quality fragrance ingredients—considered the baseline to Arab beauty—there is a growing demand for high-performance skincare actives, as well as ingredients that address the region's hot and arid climate.
Mintel data, for example, indicates that 31% of Saudi Arabia consumers stopped using a product in the past because it didn't deliver the promised results, showing the importance of product performance.
According to Zering, biotech ingredients, sensitive-skin solutions, and climate-adapted formulations will become key in these areas as formula innovation efforts advance. Abbas also adds that the GCC's strong demand for premium fragrances and culturally relevant formulations will continue to make it “an attractive location for innovation hubs, enabling companies to collaborate more closely with local brands, accelerate product development, and support customers across the Middle East more efficiently.”
MCBG's Zaki said the fundamentals of conducting beauty and personal care business in the GCC are “exceptionally attractive.”
“Consumers are highly engaged with beauty, innovation adoption is rapid, digital ecosystems are thriving, and governments continue to support business growth and investment. Taken together, these factors make the GCC one of the most compelling growth regions for the beauty industry,” he said.
The GCC is also becoming “an increasingly influential region where consumer sophistication, fragrance culture, and digital engagement are shaping broader industry trends,” Sarma added.
“For brands, the opportunity lies in remaining culturally relevant, innovating with purpose, adapting quickly to changing consumer expectations, and collaborating across the ecosystem. Those that succeed will be the ones capable of combining global capabilities with genuine local understanding, and responding to consumers with the speed and agility that today's market demands.” For that, she said a hybrid model–working with global and local suppliers–remains absolutely key.