GCC advertising benchmarks 2026: costs by industry and platform
What a click, a lead and a sale cost on Meta, Google, Snapchat and TikTok in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Egypt. Every figure as its source published it, with date and link.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) costs $12.01 per 1,000 views in Saudi Arabia, $12.67 in Qatar, $10 in the UAE, $8.07 in Kuwait and $1.81 in Egypt, against $16.08 in the US (Lebesgue, Jul 2026). #
A real estate lead in Saudi Arabia costs SAR 180 on Snapchat, SAR 210 on Meta and SAR 240 on TikTok on average across 200+ campaigns (RankRush, May 2026). #
In Dubai, a real estate lead costs AED 25–200 on Meta and AED 150–500 on Google (Forward Digital, Feb 2026). #
The median online store on Meta paid $38.19 per purchase and earned a 1.86× return on ad spend in 2025, across about 35,000 brands (Triple Whale, Feb 2026). #
A Google Search click in Saudi Arabia costs SAR 3–10 across industries, SAR 1–5 for restaurants and SAR 3–9 for clinics, and up to SAR 40–70 for lawyers in Riyadh (Nalk Solutions, Apr 2026; Digital Wasfa, Jun 2026). #
TikTok costs $3.8–$7.4 per 1,000 views in Saudi Arabia and $4.6–$8.8 in the UAE; a TikTok lead costs $10–$25 and $12–$30 (Stackmatix, Sep 2026). #
Only about 1.9% of real estate leads and 2% of car sales leads become customers, so a buyer costs roughly 50 times the cost per lead (First Page Sage, Aug 2026). #
Ramadan: Meta CPM across the GCC ran about 68% above baseline in 2026, and 54% in 2024 (Salman Gul, Nov 2026; BIMO, Oct 2026). #
Snapchat ad reach in Saudi Arabia is 25.3 million people, 72.9% of the population and 89% of adults (October 2025) (DataReportal, Nov 2025). #
Ad costs by country
All industries together, in US dollars. When one source covers a market we show its figure or range as published; when several do, we show the median with the range and the number of sources under it. Each source's own figure is in the sentences above and in the data file.
Pick a market. Dark figures were published for that market; figures tagged "worldwide" come from worldwide studies because no local figure exists yet. Cost per customer is an estimate: cost per lead divided by the share of leads who buy, using worldwide close rates (First Page Sage).
Published for this marketWorldwide: no local figure yet
A lead costs about $16.53 on Facebook and Instagram, $49.40 (worldwide study) on Google Search, $14.67 on Snapchat and $12.80 on TikTok. About 5.3% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $312 in ads (estimate).13222
A lead costs about $97.51 (worldwide study) on Google Search. About 2.7% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $3,611 in ads (estimate, worldwide figures).222
A lead costs about $12 on Facebook and Instagram, $39.25 (worldwide study) on Google Search, $10.13 on Snapchat and $8.53 on TikTok. About 2.7% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $444 in ads (estimate).13222
A lead costs about $12.80 on Facebook and Instagram, $30.57 (worldwide study) on Google Search, $11.20 on Snapchat and $10.13 on TikTok. About 2.7% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $474 in ads (estimate).13222
A lead costs about $24 on Facebook and Instagram, $103 (worldwide study) on Google Search, $40 on Snapchat and $64 on TikTok. About 1.9% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $1,263 in ads (estimate).8132021422
A lead costs about $44 on Facebook and Instagram, $44.26 (worldwide study) on Google Search, $38.67 on Snapchat and $36 on TikTok. About 2% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $2,200 in ads (estimate).1321422
A lead costs about $22.67 on Facebook and Instagram, $40.04 (worldwide study) on Google Search and $18.13 on Snapchat. About 2.4% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $944 in ads (estimate).1320222
A lead costs about $61.56 (worldwide study) on Facebook and Instagram and $72.97 (worldwide study) on Google Search. About 2.4% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $2,565 in ads (estimate, worldwide figures).1222
A lead costs about $29.33 on Facebook and Instagram, $77.48 (worldwide study) on Google Search and $24 on Snapchat. About 8.3% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $353 in ads (estimate).1321422
A lead costs about $48 on Facebook and Instagram, $74.44 (worldwide study) on Google Search and $58.67 on Snapchat. About 2.9% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $1,655 in ads (estimate).1321422
A lead costs about $132 (worldwide study) on Google Search. About 2.5% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $5,265 in ads (estimate, worldwide figures).222
A lead costs about $42.95 (worldwide study) on Facebook and Instagram and $90.92 (worldwide study) on Google Search. About 5.8% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $741 in ads (estimate, worldwide figures).1222
A lead costs about $44.70 (worldwide study) on Google Search. About 3.4% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $1,315 in ads (estimate, worldwide figures).222
A lead costs about $27.11 (worldwide study) on Facebook and Instagram and $67.36 (worldwide study) on Google Search. About 2.7% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $1,004 in ads (estimate, worldwide figures).1222
A lead costs about $85.33 on Facebook and Instagram, $93.69 (worldwide study) on Google Search and $144 on TikTok. About 2.3% of leads buy, so one customer costs roughly $3,710 in ads (estimate).13222
Snapchat ad reach in Saudi Arabia is 25.3 million people, 72.9% of the population and 89% of adults (October 2025).24
Snapchat ad reach in the UAE is 5.13 million people, 44.9% of the population (October 2025).25
How we compile the figures
We collect figures from published studies (LocaliQ and WordStream, Triple Whale, Lebesgue, DataReportal and others) and from agencies and platforms that publish numbers from their accounts in the Gulf and Egypt. Each figure is stored exactly as published, with its currency, range, market and publish date, then converted to US dollars at the fixed peg (SAR 3.75, AED 3.6725, QAR 3.64) or an approximate rate for the Kuwaiti dinar.
Each cell shows the middle value (median) of what was published for the chosen market, with the range from the lowest to the highest figure under it. When nobody publishes a figure for that market, the worldwide studies are shown in grey, never mixed in. Cost per customer is calculated: cost per lead divided by the lead to customer rate, which is the product of the four sales stages First Page Sage publishes per industry.
Agency figures are estimates from their own accounts, not audited samples, so every source is labelled as a study, an agency or platform data. We review the page whenever a source publishes a newer study; the last review date is at the top.
Worldwide studies mostly come from US and UK advertisers. Gulf and Egypt figures are published by agencies and platforms from their own accounts, as ranges, and some are estimates. So every figure is shown as published, in its currency, with its source; we compare with the middle value and treat no figure as a hard limit. Where a Gulf agency publishes "cost per action" for a lead business, we read it as cost per lead. Currencies are pegged to the US dollar except the Kuwaiti dinar (approximate rate).
How to cite these figures
The page and its data are licensed CC BY 4.0: reuse any figure free with a link to this page. To cite:
Adly. (2026). GCC advertising benchmarks 2026: costs by industry and platform. Last reviewed 11 Nov 2026. https://getadly.com/en/gcc-ad-benchmarks/
UAE average order value in H1 2026, from more than 2.5 million GCC orders.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Facebook and Instagram ads cost in Saudi Arabia?
Published Meta CPM figures for Saudi Arabia range from about 3 to 15 US dollars per 1,000 views, and Lebesgue publishes 12.01 dollars for 2026. Cost per lead varies widely by industry: from about SAR 48 for restaurants to SAR 210 for real estate according to RankRush.
What does a real estate lead cost in the GCC?
In Dubai, AED 25 to 200 on Meta and AED 150 to 500 on Google according to Forward Digital. In Saudi Arabia, SAR 30 to 90 for a form lead (23HubLab) and SAR 210 on average in RankRush campaigns, SAR 180 on Snapchat and SAR 240 on TikTok.
Which ad platform is cheapest in Saudi Arabia?
It depends on the goal. TikTok and Snapchat CPMs are usually below Meta, but for real estate leads, for example, Snapchat (SAR 180) beats Meta (SAR 210) and TikTok (SAR 240) according to RankRush 2026. Compare the cost of the result you want, not CPM alone.
Do ad costs rise during Ramadan?
Yes. Meta CPM across the GCC ran about 68% above baseline in Ramadan 2026, and Snapchat CPM in Saudi Arabia 60% to 90% higher. Summer, January, February and May are usually cheaper.
What is cost per customer (cost per deal)?
What you spend on ads to get one buyer: cost per lead divided by the share of leads who buy. In real estate and car sales only about 2% of leads buy, so a customer costs about 50 times the cost per lead.
Where do the figures come from and how accurate are they?
From 33 published sources: worldwide studies, Gulf agencies and platform data. Agency figures are estimates, so each figure is shown as published with its source type, and as a range rather than one number.
Can I use these figures in an article or a deck?
Yes, free, with a link to this page. You can download the full data as CSV or JSON.
Plan your campaign with these figures
The budget calculator fills these figures in for your industry and market and warns you when a plan is unrealistic. Then Adly designs the ads and launches the campaign.