Middle East and Egypt spotlight
Alan Roy
General Manager Middle East & EgyptWorldpanel by Numerator
Ramadan 2026 demonstrated the resilience of consumers across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. Despite economic pressures and geopolitical uncertainty, the season drove strong FMCG engagement, but in a more deliberate way than in previous years. Households planned earlier, prioritised essential categories and concentrated spending around the moments that mattered most.
Growth was not driven by a single behaviour across markets. In Saudi Arabia, consumers prepared ahead of Ramadan and got more time to spend with family and friends. In the UAE, shoppers maintained strong consumption levels despite disruption, supported by convenience, ecommerce and larger in-home occasions. In Egypt, households bought more frequently and expanded basket contents despite ongoing affordability pressures. Together, these markets reveal a common theme: Ramadan remains a powerful consumption moment, but consumers are becoming more selective about where, when and how they spend.
The following pages explore how these dynamics played out across each market, highlighting the category winners, shifts in shopping behaviour and the opportunities for brands and retailers to capture growth when planning ahead for 2027 Ramadan.
“Winning the season in 2027 takes more than sell-out data – it takes knowing who is buying, how behaviour shifts week to week, which categories gain, and where the next opportunity lies.”
The biggest sales month isn't Ramadan – it's the one before it. Saudi households stocked up in February, then spent more of the season celebrating at home and at social events: fewer, larger shops rather than frequent top-ups.
With relatively more time at home due to regional conflict,, the basket even widened – personal care and home care were pulled into growth rather than cut, a luxury the tighter markets couldn't afford.
FMCG spend in February, indexed against a typical month – the pre-season peak
FOR BRANDS PLANNING 2027
Move media and trade activation into the weeks before Ramadan. If you launch on day one, the shop is already done.
Saudi consumers once again demonstrated the importance of pre-Ramadan preparation. FMCG volumes peaked during February as households stocked up ahead of the season, confirming that activation timing remains as important as activation messaging.
The February peak is more than a seasonal spike: it confirms that the most important commercial window starts before Ramadan itself. Consumers are increasingly planning ahead, building larger baskets and securing meal-centred categories before the fasting period begins. Brands that focus only on Ramadan risk activating too late.
While shopping frequency softened during Ramadan itself due to increased time spent at home, overall consumption remained elevated. Food and Dairy drove the largest gains during preparation periods, while Personal Care and Home Care became more relevant later in the season.
Key takeaways
Preparation is becoming as important as Ramadan itself
Food and Dairy remain the main basket builders
In-home consumption shaped shopping behaviour
Ramadan expanded relevance beyond traditional food categories
Shoppers exercised cautious spending this year. The volumes have increased but with smaller trip sizes
Ramadan months (February and March) delivered substantially higher FMCG spending and consumption compared with a typical month. The strongest uplift occurred in February, reflecting early stock-up behaviour and preparation for the holy month.
Food, Beverage and Dairy (FBD) recorded the strongest growth in February as households prepared for Ramadan. In contrast, Non-Food categories saw a greater uplift in March, driven by continued household needs and seasonal consumption patterns during the month of Ramadan.
A particularly important finding is that Ramadan expanded category participation. More Personal Care and Home Care categories recorded growth during Q1 versus the market's broader annual trend, indicating consumers were engaging with a wider range of needs during the holy month.
Brand implications
Shift investment into the pre-Ramadan phase
Create distinct plans for stock-up and celebration missions
Build cross-category activation spanning Food, Dairy, Personal Care and Home Care
Prioritise visibility before consumers lock their Ramadan baskets
External disruption changed how the UAE celebrated, not whether. With more time spent at-home due to regional conflict, occasions shifted into the home – lifting family-meal, hospitality and household categories.
Food, Dairy and Home Care led the season, and e-commerce was its strongest channel story – growing on both reach and frequency, with more trips and smaller baskets.
of Dairy categories were in growth during the Ramadan quarter – the market's clearest winner
Treat e-commerce as the pre-season shelf and build for in-home hospitality. The basket locks online before anyone reaches a store.
In the United Arab Emirates, Ramadan 2026 was marked by resilience.
The UAE data highlights consumer adaptability. External uncertainty influenced how consumers celebrated Ramadan, but not whether they celebrated it. More occasions moved into the home, reinforcing demand for categories linked to family meals, hospitality and household preparation.
Although geopolitical developments altered some social and out-of-home behaviours, households continued to increase FMCG consumption. More time spent at home translated into stronger purchasing intensity and larger consumption occasions.
Food, Dairy and Home Care emerged as key growth engines. Dairy, in particular, demonstrated exceptional relevance during the season. At the same time, ecommerce emerged as one of Ramadan's strongest channel stories, growing through both increased reach and higher shopping frequency.
Consumers became increasingly selective. Growth was concentrated within fewer categories, reflecting more focused spending priorities rather than broad-based expansion.
Consumer demand remained strong but more focused
Dairy and Home Care were standout growth sectors
Ecommerce strengthened its Ramadan role
Growth came from fewer categories, signalling more deliberate spending
Ecommerce's Ramadan moment
8.7% FMCG volume share
Rising penetration
Higher purchase frequency
Increasing strategic importance during Ramadan
Align innovation and messaging with Ramadan occasions
Treat ecommerce as a core activation channel
Focus on relevance rather than broad portfolio activation
Egypt produced the strongest surge of all four markets – and it came entirely from intensity, not new shoppers. The same households simply bought more often and stacked more packs, protecting the Ramadan table despite real affordability pressure.
They weren't trading up; they were buying more, more often. Dairy over-indexed as the season's clearest winner, while personal care was quietly set aside.
Growth came from more trips and more packs – not from recruiting new shoppers.
Win on pack architecture: multipacks, accessible entry prices and frequent-purchase formats. Heavy premiumisation pushed here falls flat.
Among the featured markets, Egypt delivered perhaps the clearest Ramadan uplift story.
Egypt demonstrates that Ramadan remains powerful even in challenging economic conditions. Households actively protected spending tied to family meals and seasonal traditions, choosing to buy more often and purchase more packs despite affordability pressures.
Despite continued price pressures, households significantly increased both spend and volume during Ramadan. Importantly, growth was not driven by broader penetration but by existing shoppers purchasing more frequently, buying more packs and increasing basket intensity.
Food and Dairy were the unquestionable winners. Dairy delivered the strongest Ramadan over-indexing, while Food remained central to meal occasions throughout the season. Meanwhile, Personal Care struggled to maintain relevance, demonstrating how consumers concentrated spending around the categories most closely linked to Ramadan rituals and family occasions.
The Egyptian shopper was not necessarily trading up; they were simply buying more often and stocking more packs. This distinction highlights the importance of assortment, pack architecture and affordability strategies. Growth came from intensity, not expansion. Households bought more, more often.
Brand Implications
Prioritise affordable formats and multipacks
Protect distribution of meal-building staples
Win core Ramadan occasions before pursuing premiumisation
Egypt delivered the strongest Ramadan uplift
Food and Dairy dominated demand
Growth came from purchase intensity, not shopper recruitment
Households increased packs purchased and shopping frequency
