Saudi mall-based GLA to expand to 8.3 million sq metres by 2012

The supply of mall-based retail Gross Leasable Area (GLA) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is expected to expand at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.3 per cent to reach 8.3 million sq metres by 2012, a recent report by Jiwar Real Estate Management & Marketing, the marketing arm of the Saudi Binladin Group said. Further, the Saudi market is expected to produce an additional 1.5 million sq metres of retail GLA within the next two years.

"The outlook for the kingdom's metropolitan mall-based retail market is excellent given the strong growth in demand and increasing occupancy rates. The government's strategic focus on expanding the non-oil economy is likely to lead to the development of additional commercial industries, of which mall retailing will be a major beneficiary," said Saleh bin Abdullah Al Habib, CEO, Jiwar Real Estate Management & Marketing.

Jiwar is a leading player in the Saudi real estate market. The company actively pursues real estate opportunities based on feasibility studies undertaken in-house and with reputed consultants.

Meanwhile, KSA's level of personal disposable income is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 6.5 per cent to reach around SR659 billion (Dh645bn) by 2013. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is also expected to rise at a CAGR of 7.3 per cent to SR78,723 by 2014. Both the personal disposable income and GDP per capita are expected to grow faster than inflation. "Another factor contributing to the momentum of the Saudi retail market is the youthful composition of its population, with 63 per cent of citizens under the age of 30. The population growth in the KSA stands at 2.49 per cent as against the global average of 1.14 per cent," said the report. More than 12 million people visit KSA per year, making retail tourism a key economic driver.

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