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Oman’s annual household food consumption reached 2.7 billion rials ($7.02 billion) in 2022, with the food sector accounting for 4.5% or OMR 1.2 billion of the sultanate’s GDP.
The data was shared at the Food Security Laboratory 2023 summit hosted in the country, with a focus on reducing sultanate’s reliance on food imports, according to Oman News Agency. Yousef Mohammed Al Riyami, Director General of National Statistics, revealed the total value of imports to the sultanate stood at OMR 14.8 billion in 2022, of which imports of food commodities constituted 14.8% or OMR 2.19 billion. Exports of food commodities stood at OMR 1 billion.
The lab has been organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources in cooperation with Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-up Unit and the National Programme for Investment and Export Development.
Oman has earlier announced its plans to increase local food production, with a target of 100% food sufficiency by 2040.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Brinda Darasha)
