Dubai:
The UAE is the largest design market in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, with a 27 per cent share and $27.6 billion in revenues in 2014, according to Mena Design Outlook 2015 report, released on Monday.
Commissioned by the Dubai Design and Fashion Council and produced by global consultancy Deloitte, the report highlights that the UAE is expected to maintain its position in the coming years, with the country’s design market forecast to reach $35.9 billion by 2019.
Overall in the region, the design market is expected to grow by about 6 per cent annually to reach $147.5 billion by 2019, according to the report. It states that the Mena design market was valued at more than $100 billion last year, representing more than 4.5 per cent of the global design market, at $2.3 trillion. And by 2019, it is forecast to account for 5.2 per cent of the global market.
In 2013, Dubai launched a new project — the Dubai Design District (D3) — aimed at making it the region’s fashion and design hub. The project, which is developed by Tecom Investments, is located adjacent to the Business Bay area. The first phase of the project, with 11 buildings and 10,000 design and creative professionals, is complete.
Meanwhile, the second phase, which includes the “Creative Community”, is expected to be completed by 2018, followed by the third phase in 2019, which will feature the Waterfront Promenade that includes hotels, cafés, restaurants and boutiques.
Commenting on the report, Amina Al Rostamani, Chairperson of Dubai Design and Fashion Council and CEO of Tecom Investments, said: “We recognised that we currently face a lack of visibility on the design markets as well as benchmarking standards … Commissioning a study such as this gives us key insights which will enable us to shape the way forward and helps us identify the gaps in the market and introduce strategic initiatives to support the growth of the design sector.”
Saudi Arabia is the second biggest design market in the region, with revenues of $21.9 billion. Qatar and Egypt follow, both representing around half of the Saudi market.
Design revenues in the region are forecast to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9-10 per cent in the next three years.
While the UAE is the largest design market in Mena, it is likely to grow at a slower pace compared to other markets in the coming years “due to a higher level of maturity”, according to the report. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the region’s fastest growing design markets, having grown by 9 and 11 per cent respectively between 2010 and 2013.
Fashion, architecture and interior design are the largest segments of the design industry in Mena, and specifically in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as per the report.
The region is among the global emerging markets driving fashion expenditure, alongside Brazil, Russia, India and China.
The Mena fashion market has outpaced global industry growth since 2010, with a CAGR of 15.7 per cent. That compares to a global CAGR of 3.3 per cent. The growth has been driven by increased spending in retail infrastructure in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to the report.
The UAE leads the region with a 28.3 per cent share of apparel revenues, followed by Saudi Arabia with 16.8 per cent. Globally, the fashion retail market is forecast to exceed $1.7 trillion by 2019.
