Japanese Restaurants in the Middle East and Africa: 2025 Data

MAFF counts about 1,600 Japanese restaurants in the Middle East and about 800 in Africa in 2025, both up roughly 20% since 2023. Turkey (480) overtook Israel (320) as the Gulf and Levant region's largest market, and the Gulf states together (UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar) hold 620. These are the two smallest regions in the survey, and with only a few hundred Japanese restaurants per country, the local pool of cooks with Japanese kitchen experience is thin almost everywhere: plan on visa rules, not a shortage of demand, setting the pace of your hire.

1. Two small regions, both up about 20%

Together they hold about 2,400 of the world's 181,000 Japanese restaurants, a little over 1%, but they are growing faster than North America or Europe. Since 2013 the Middle East count has grown about 6.4 times and Africa's about 5.3 times, faster than the world as a whole (3.3 times); both stalled between 2021 and 2023 and picked up again in 2025.

2. Middle East by country

MAFF lists markets with 10 or more restaurants, rounded to the nearest ten. MAFF counts Turkey in the Middle East, not Europe (see our Europe data article).

Turkey accounts for about two thirds of the Middle East's net growth and overtook Israel as the region's largest market. Outside Turkey, growth was spread evenly: almost every Gulf and Levant market added 10 or 20 restaurants. The Gulf states in the table (UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar) total 620 restaurants, up 80. The UAE figure covers the whole country; MAFF does not split Dubai from Abu Dhabi.

3. Africa by country

South Africa is still the largest African market but the only one that shrank; Morocco is close behind. North Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia) totals 300. The listed African rows add up to about 650, against MAFF's regional estimate of about 800; the gap is the many countries with fewer than 10 restaurants that the country table leaves out, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Oman does not appear in either the 2023 or 2025 table: treat it as unknown, not zero.

4. Visa route in one line, market by market

Each country runs its own permit system, and none of them are covered by the MAFF data itself. Government fees, housing, gratuity and other Gulf-specific employer costs sit outside the restaurant count entirely, which is exactly what a planner needs added to it.

In the Gulf states and other Muslim-majority markets, halal sourcing and kitchen practice also shape the role you are hiring for; see staffing a halal Japanese kitchen.

5. Reading small numbers

• Rounding. Every row is rounded to the nearest ten. Because both years are rounded, a change of "+10" could mean anything from 1 to 19 restaurants.
• Only two data points. MAFF's 2023 table explains that country figures were not published before 2023, so no market here has a trend, only one comparison.
• Local sources. Restaurants are counted if local websites, directories or guidebooks list them as Japanese, if they belong to a Japanese restaurant association, if the local Japanese community treats them as Japanese, or if the Japanese embassy or consulate recognises them. In a market of 40 restaurants, one new directory can change the picture.

6. What it means for your hiring plan

• Few experienced cooks are already in-country, almost everywhere here. With a few hundred Japanese restaurants per country at most, plan on senior roles being filled from abroad rather than from a deep local bench.
• Visa rules, not demand, set the pace. Each country's own permit system, fees and documentation timeline decide how fast you can move; start with the country guide linked above rather than the restaurant count.
• Turkey is the one market growing fast enough to expect real competition for staff. An 85% rise in two years is the largest in either region; budget more lead time there than in the smaller, flatter Gulf markets.
• South Africa's small fall is worth a local test. It is the only market in either region to shrink, which may mean experienced staff are easier to find locally before recruiting from Japan.

General information, not investment, legal or immigration advice. Restaurant counts are MAFF's rounded figures as published; totals and groupings are our own calculations from those figures.