A recent report by dmg events Middle East has found that 1-in-10 consumers in the UAE spends Dh60,000 (£11,000) a year on cosmetic goods. This figure consolidates the growing trend within this region and society where the 'necessity' or, perhaps, the 'want' for luxury items has significantly increased over recent years.
Statistics from the World Bank show that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the UAE has grown more than threefold over the last decade – from $109bn in 2003 to $360bn in 2013 – where the decade previously had only shown an increase from $55bn. The Middle Eastern country is second only to oil-rich Saudi Arabia in this statistic within the Arab world and emphasises the correlation between its global economic standing and the increase in demand for cosmetics, luxury goods and the more superfluous items within consumer trading.
With the UAE's oil trade and per capita income placing within the top seven countries worldwide and rocketing the economy upwards, the causal link driving consumer trends can be attributed to the great technology boom of the 21st Century, facilitating the dissemination of information of what the more economically developed countries in the world are buying and using in terms of FMCG products. Such spending and social norms are led, not just by vanity with a strong social pressure to look good, but by a high consumerist pattern in the country's entirety due to the impressive per capita incomes, found because of the oil trade, spread over a relatively small population of around eight million. Thus, as demand increases, and with the country's development and infrastructure able to satisfy this demand, the supply can follow in a Boserupian, ever-satisfying supply and demand progression.
From this mindset both socially, economically and commercially, it is easy to see why the UAE consumers spend the most money on mass-produced premium cosmetic brands with many residents spending as much each year on cosmetics as they do on rent or a car, according to the recent report conducted in March 2013 including 496 males and females.
The Middle Eastern beauty industry is booming with the increase in visitors and prevalence of cosmetics, toiletries and beauty tradeshows too such as Beautyworld Middle East 2013 which welcomed over 1,000 exhibitors and 25,000 visitors through its doors in May. With this trend not showing any signs of stopping, the C&T industry may look to the Middle East, and the UAE in particular, to ensure that this demand is satisfied and then furthered in this area of growing world power, consumerism and economic status.
