GCC consulting market grows at the fastest rate in seven years, crossing the $3bn mark for the first time

The market has now crossed a total value of $3 billion for the first time, according to report published by Source Global Research.

The report states that while volatile oil prices and Covid-19-related restrictions lingered over the market in the early days of the year, government efforts to push on with investment and economic transformation programmes across the region – particularly in relation to Expo 2020, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Vision 2030 – boosted demand across the consulting market.

The market trends, content, and strategy lead at Source Global Research, Ashok Patel, said: “After a challenging 2020, consultants in the GCC enjoyed a much better 2021—recording the fastest market growth rate for seven years. Although Saudi Arabia led the GCC in terms of consulting market growth, the UAE, the region’s second largest market, also grew at an impressive 16.6 percent, largely driven by the country’s desire to emerge from the pandemic in a strong position.

“Long-anticipated events such as the pandemic-delayed Expo 2020 generated opportunities for consultants of all stripes as the country geared up to showcase its strengths.”

Saudi Arabia’s consulting market – the largest in the GCC – grew faster than the overall market in 2021, with growth of 18.8 percent taking revenues to $1.8 billion.

Bolstered by resurgent oil prices, the Saudi government pursued its commitment to diversifying the national economy in line with Vision 2030 and took the next steps towards building Neom.

The countries with the three fastest-growing consulting markets in 2021 were as follows:

From an industry perspective, pharma & biotech was the fastest grower, with consulting revenues up more than a quarter in 2021.

Digitisation remained a key driver of demand as the region’s big pharma players sought to modernise their systems, boost the use of machine learning and automation in their R&D function, and ensure remote working solutions were as efficient and effective as possible.

The public sector was once again a very happy hunting ground for the GCC’s consultants, with revenues up 19.7 percent in 2021.

Government-led economic diversification programmes were a key driver of demand for strategy expertise in particular as clients leaned on consultants to update privatisation plans for state-owned companies and boost investment in less well-developed sectors.

Across the GCC, cybersecurity remained the fastest-growing consulting service (up 28.4 percent) as clients sought to put new solutions in place to protect increasingly digitised services, including online citizen services and portals.

The report also found that demand for strategy consulting returned with a vengeance across the GCC, with revenues rising 24.2 percent to $838m in 2021, after contracting by around 7 percent the previous year.

Patel added: “Our data shows that the GCC is recovering quickly from the pandemic. Almost half of clients we surveyed in the Gulf region think that their organisations have returned to normal after the pandemic, which is a significantly higher proportion than in other countries that we’ve analysed as part of this year’s Market Trends programme.

“With greater optimism returning to the region, and almost two-thirds of client organisations expecting to spend more on consulting support this year than they did in 2021, we’re forecasting another strong year for the region’s consultants.”

The report also surveyed client organisations across the Gulf, with 59 percent saying that they expect to spend more on consulting support in 2022 than they did in 2021.

Although this proportion is marginally smaller than the 63 percent who said this last year, it reflects Source’s overall view of 2021, that – leaving aside the impact of the war in Ukraine and consequence of economic sanctions against Russia – 2022 will be another strong year for consulting services with growth rates only slightly lower than last year’s exceptional performance.