Logistic market share in GCC by country 2015

This statistic describes the share of the logistic market in the Gulf Cooperation Council in 2015, broken down by country. During this time, the United Arab Emirates share of the GCC logistic market was 42 percent.

Global overview of warehouse automation

The boom of the online retail industry and e-commerce following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has led to increased investment in warehouse automation. This was preceded by continuous improvement of automation and supply chain integration through innovative solutions and technological advancements. In 2019, the warehouse automation market was valued at about 15 billion U.S. dollars and was projected to double in size to reach above 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2026. Warehouses benefit from automation in the form of efficiency, profitability, and decreased labor costs and shortages. The demand for fast shipping in recent years has influenced the acceleration of different warehouse processes through automation. By 2023, the number of logistics robots is expected to reach almost 260 thousand, an increase from 75 thousand in 2019. Also, warehouse cloud computing and storage technology witnessed the highest adoption rate globally in 2019.

MENA warehouse automation

The current transformations in the logistics sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region aim to increase productivity and cost-efficiency. The regional changes in warehousing were not only triggered by smart tech, but also by the recent increased popularity of e-commerce and on-demand deliveries. The food producer Almarai in Saudi Arabia reached an agreement to automate its distribution logistics. While in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai Customs launched an awareness campaign about the importance of smart warehouse management systems (WMS) to more than 21 thousand companies. The warehouse automation market in the region was expected to reach a value of 1.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2025. The growth in e-commerce is the main driver for warehouse automation. More than 40 percent of respondents in a survey in Saudi Arabia and the UAE stated that fast delivery is one of the main factors influencing their choice of online shopping platforms.