Manama: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continued to register advanced performance across the agriculture, livestock, and fisheries sectors throughout 2024. This trend reflects the growing role of these sectors in bolstering food security and supporting economic diversification, despite environmental challenges such as limited arable land and water scarcity.
According to Bahrain News Agency, data from the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) revealed that the contribution of the agriculture and fisheries sector to the GDP at current prices reached approximately $40 billion in 2024. This represents a growth of 5.1% compared to 2023, while the sector's overall contribution remained steady at 1.7% of the total GCC GDP. Agricultural and fish exports rose to $7.8 billion, a significant increase of 17.5%, while imports reached $38.7 billion, up by 10.1%. These figures highlight ongoing regional efforts to enhance production efficiency and strengthen food security systems.
The growth was driven by increases in plant, animal, and fish production, alongside improved intra-GCC and international trade. Total plant production in the GCC reached approximately 12.7 million tonnes in 2024, a 3.9% increase from 12.2 million tonnes in 2023. Meanwhile, livestock numbers grew by 3.6% to reach 42.5 million head.
Vegetables topped the list of plant products by volume, accounting for 45.8% of total GCC plant production. In the livestock sector, sheep maintained the leading position, making up 60.5% of the total with 25.7 million head. This was followed by goats at 12.5 million, camels at 3.2 million, and cattle at 1.2 million head. The report also noted the high relative weight of goats in specific countries, accounting for 64.4% of total local livestock in the Sultanate of Oman and 44.4% in the United Arab Emirates.
In terms of animal products, the GCC recorded clear growth in several key indicators. Table egg production reached approximately 12 billion eggs in 2024, an 8.4% increase from 11 billion in 2023. Saudi Arabia led this indicator with a 70.4% share, followed by Kuwait at 10.8%, the UAE at 9.4%, and Oman at 8.2%. Chicken meat production reached 1.6 million tonnes, a strong growth of 17.9% compared to 1.4 million tonnes the previous year.
The fisheries sector also saw remarkable expansion, with total production reaching approximately 1.1 million tonnes in 2024, a 12.2% increase from 2023. This performance reflects a growing focus on fisheries and aquaculture as vital paths for supporting food security and diversifying local production sources.
Regarding land use, data indicates that while the total area of the GCC countries is approximately 2.4 million square kilometres, the area utilised for agriculture does not exceed 9.2 thousand square kilometres, or 0.4% of the total area. This limited percentage underscores the geographical and environmental challenges facing agricultural expansion, driving GCC countries to focus on resource efficiency, modern agricultural technologies, and investments in protected agriculture and aquaculture.
Intra-GCC trade also saw gains, with internal exports of agricultural products reaching $4.8 billion in 2024, a 7.2% increase from $4.5 billion in 2023. Internal fish exports reached $214.4 million, up by 13.3% from $189.3 million the previous year. These figures demonstrate increasing levels of commercial and food integration among member states and the rising role of certain GCC countries as regional logistical hubs for re-exporting.
This advanced performance confirms that the GCC is moving forward with agricultural integration based on a unified strategy. This approach focuses on the optimal use of water resources, securing food from national sources, and encouraging joint projects with private sector participation. These efforts are supported by several joint programmes, including the coordination of agricultural plans and policies, natural resource exploitation, and unified agricultural laws covering seeds, fertilisers, quarantine, pesticides, and organic products.