Economics and Marketing of Dates in Saudi Arabia

Date production is an income source for North African and Asian countries, specifically the Arabian Peninsula, and date serves as an important perennial food that plays a key role in human nutrition and welfare. Indeed, it is considered one of the main sources of food in several countries, particularly in the Arabian Gulf and Middle East. The economic importance of the date palm for producing countries means it is considered a sector with strong potential for employment creation, income generation, and trade. The leading producers of dates in the world are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Algeria, while Saudi Arabia is classified as the largest date-consuming country worldwide. However, there will be a substantial reduction in arable land for date palm cultivation in the future due to climate change, increasing temperature, and dust storms. In addition, climate change can influence the date market directly through negative impacts on storage and distribution, and indirectly through negative impacts on productivity. This chapter discusses the economics of date production globally and in Saudi Arabia specifically. It concisely covers major topics of importance to date globally, including the socioeconomics of date production, date production and consumption, world trade, marketing systems, prices, challenges and opportunities for date marketing, regulations and standards of the date trade, and the economic feasibility of date production. In addition, this chapter contains detailed explanations of macroeconomic information of dates in Saudi Arabia as a case study.