Net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Saudi Arabia rose 5.6% to 9.5 billion riyals ($2.53 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, government data showed on Sunday.
Inflows increased by 0.6% to 17 billion riyals in the first three months compared to a year ago, while outflows decreased by 5.1% to about 7.5 billion riyals.
The Kingdom hopes to attract $100 billion in foreign direct investment by 2030 to boost non-oil gross domestic product as part of a broader strategy to diversify the economy away from dependence on crude oil exports.
Earlier this month, foreign investors bought more than half of the shares offered by Aramco as part of its second offering, worth $11.2 billion.
The oil giant also helped raise foreign direct investment previously, but even with those deals, foreign direct investment remained far from the Vision 2030 target, peaking at $32.8 billion in 2022 and reaching $19.2 billion last year, according to what was reported. Reuters.
General Authority for Statistics: The unemployment rate for the total population of the Kingdom is relatively stable at 3.5% in the first quarter of 2024. https://t.co/wTLLTmCqqh#SPA_Economic pic.twitter.com/TdRzSVhHSR
— SPA Economic (@SPAeconomic) June 30, 2024
Unemployment stabilizes
Also in Saudi Arabia, data from the General Authority for Statistics revealed that the unemployment rate for the total population of the Kingdom (Saudis and non-Saudis) was relatively stable at 3.5% in the first quarter of this year compared to 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
According to the same data, the unemployment rate for all Saudis decreased to 7.6% in the first quarter, compared to 7.8% in the fourth quarter of last year.
The unemployment rate among Saudi women increased slightly in the first quarter, reaching 14.2% compared to 13.9% in the previous quarter. On the other hand, the unemployment rate among Saudi men decreased in the first quarter to 4.2% compared to 4.6% in the previous quarter.
