GCC Influencer Market Jumps 75% As Lifestyle Creators Lead Growth

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) area now hosts 263,000 monetized social media influencers, representing a roughly 75% improve since 2023, in accordance with new knowledge from influencer advertising and marketing intelligence platform Qoruz, per Campaign ME. The progress displays the area’s evolving digital panorama throughout Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

This regional progress outpaces world creator economic system growth, which Goldman Sachs initiatives will improve from 67 million creators worldwide in 2025 to 107 million by 2030, representing a ten% compound annual progress fee.

Lifestyle and journey creators lead the growth, rising 87% from 31,000 in 2023 to 58,000 in 2025. Fashion and sweetness creators comply with carefully with an 89% improve over the identical interval. These classes outpace the general market progress, indicating shifting client pursuits within the area.

Qoruz defines “creator or influencer” on this analysis as monetized content material producers with greater than 1,000 followers throughout social platforms.

Unexpected Growth in Niche Categories

While life-style and style classes keep dominance, a number of area of interest sectors present substantial progress. Finance and enterprise influencers elevated by 62%, addressing subjects reminiscent of private finance, startups, and synthetic intelligence for regional audiences.

Health and health creators grew 76% since 2023, notably in city Saudi and Emirati communities. Arts and leisure influencers skilled an 85% improve, reflecting regional developments in identification, cinema, music, and storytelling optimized for platforms together with Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube Shorts.

Category Growth Metrics (2023-2025)

The analysis gives particular progress knowledge throughout all influencer classes:

• Lifestyle and journey: 31,000 to 58,000 (87% progress)
• Fashion and sweetness: 28,000 to 53,000 (89% progress)
• Food and culinary: 22,000 to 32,000 (45% progress)
• Arts and leisure: 14,000 to 26,000 (85% progress)
• Health and health: 13,000 to 23,000 (76% progress)
• Parenting and household: 12,000 to 22,000 (83% progress)
• Tech and devices: 9,000 to fifteen,000 (66% progress)
• Finance and enterprise: 8,000 to 13,000 (62% progress)
• Gaming: 7,000 to 11,000 (57% progress)
• Others/Niche: 6,000 to 10,000 (66% progress)

The GCC influencer market distinguishes itself by way of multilingual, multi-ethnic creators working in extremely digitalized, brand-conscious markets. Campaign planning within the area typically entails strategic ethnicity concerns to attach with particular viewers segments.

UAE-based manufacturers steadily interact Indian-origin creators to succeed in South Asian expatriate audiences, whereas Saudi campaigns predominantly characteristic Arab creators to keep up cultural and linguistic authenticity.

Creator-led content material now reaches greater than 62% of GCC shoppers recurrently, with greater than 35% of consumers reporting that such content material straight influences their buying choices, in accordance with the analysis.

“In the GCC, creators are not just entertainers, they have become cultural narrators,” says Priya Vivek, Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships at Qoruz. “We are seeing a strong shift in how creators express modern Middle Eastern identity.”

Strategic Brand Collaborations

The analysis signifies a transition from campaign-based partnerships to deeper, long-term collaborations between manufacturers and creators. Companies more and more acknowledge influencers as strategic companions in creating client narratives.

“What’s emerging in the GCC is a creator economy that’s both strategic and expressive,” notes Aditya Gurwara, Co-Founder of Qoruz. “There’s often this perception that influencer marketing in the region is still at an early stage, but that’s far from the truth.”

Future Trajectory

The GCC creator economic system continues to evolve from experimental advertising and marketing to a structured trade. The subsequent progress section seems centered on strengthened creator-brand alignments, various content material codecs, and localized storytelling.

According to the analysis, the regional influencer panorama now emphasizes sustained affect growth that displays the GCC’s identification and aspirations on the worldwide stage, transferring past trend-based content material.

The knowledge means that creators in classes like parenting and life-style achieve traction by making on a regular basis subjects extra relatable to regional audiences. This localization of content material represents a big shift in how manufacturers strategy regional advertising and marketing methods.