The Saudi economy recorded a growth in the first quarter of the year, with the support of the non -oil sector activity, while the Kingdom seeks to diversify its economy away from oil.
Quick estimates issued by the General Authority for Statistics showed that the real GDP increased 2.7% on an annual basis in the first quarter.
The governmental authority conducted a comprehensive update of estimates, and expanded the scope of data collection, and said that “accordingly, the annual and four -year GDP chains have been updated at current and fixed prices.”
In the context of the review, the authority said that it increased the weight of the non -oil sector “as part of its efforts to achieve high levels of compatibility with international standards and data quality.”
The authority said that the update of estimates comes within its continuous efforts to provide more comprehensive, modern, accurate and high -quality statistics that serve decision makers, policymakers, investors, researchers and those interested in local, regional and international levels.
the details:
- Non -oil activities grew 4.2 % in the first quarter.
- The growth of government activities increased 3.2 %.
- Oil activities decrease 1.4% on a quarterly basis.
“The private sector activity maintained its strength, which we see as a reflection of the progress made in the investment program, and government activity witnessed a remarkable increase on a quarterly basis, and this is likely to be due to the relative support that the oil price has received in the first quarter,” said Monica, the owner of the chief economic analyst at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
“We expect some decline in government spending as of the second quarter with a sharp drop in oil prices, which is expected to restrict the government’s activity until the end of the year,” she added.
#General Authority for Statistics The rapid estimates of the real GDP growth rates are published for the first quarter of 2025 AD.
– The General Authority for Statistics (@stats_saudi) May 1, 2025
Saudi Arabia needs hundreds of billions of dollars to finance its plan to diversify its economy away from oil, known as “Vision 2030”, which aims to expand the private sector and enhance the non -oil economy.
A Reuters poll showed earlier this week that the average price of Brent crude would likely reach $ 68.99 a barrel in 2025, down from March estimates of $ 72.94.
The International Monetary Fund says Saudi Arabia needs to be the price of Brent at $ 96.2 a barrel in order to achieve a balance in the 2024 budget.
Last month, the IMF reduced its expectations for the growth of the Kingdom’s gross domestic product in 2025 to 3%, compared to estimates issued last January at 3.3%.
Reuters, quoting sources a few days ago, said that Saudi officials are telling their allies and industry experts that the Kingdom is not ready to support the oil market with more supplies, and can deal with a long period of low prices.
Updates on 2023 numbers
The authority explained that the new update results showed an increase in estimates of GDP of 2023 by 14.1%, an increase of 566 billion riyals (150.9 billion dollars) compared to the previously published estimates for the same year, to reach the size of the gross domestic product after the update 4.5 trillion riyals (1.2 trillion dollars).
The results of the comprehensive update- according to the authority’s statement- also revealed a higher relative contribution to the non-oil economy of 53.2%, an increase of 5.7% over the previous results, due to the high volume of economic activities for small and medium enterprises compared to previous estimates.
