RIYADH, 1 August – The General Authority of Statistics in Saudi Arabia (GASTAT) announced that the country’s gross domestic product grew by 11.8 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022.
According to GASTAT, this is the highest recorded quarterly growth in 11 years since the country had 13.6 per cent growth in the third quarter of 2011.
The data shows that the growth in the Saudi economy was led by a significant increase in oil activities by 23.1 per cent year-on-year and a 5.4 per cent increase in non-oil activities. The government’s economic activities also saw a growth of 2.2 per cent year-on-year.
GASTAT said that the seasonally adjusted real GDP in the country increased by 1.8 per cent in the second quarter of the year compared to the first quarter, due to a growth in oi activities by 4.8 per cent and a 0.2 per cent increase in government activities. Meanwhile, non-oil activities saw a decline of 0.4 per cent.
The first quarter of the year saw Saudi Arabia’s GDP grow by 9.9 per cent year-on-year, and on a quarterly basis, the country’s GDP grew by 2.6 per cent.
The Saudi statistics authority attributed the growth in the first quarter to significant growth in oil activities to 20.3 per cent year-on-year and 2.9 per cent on a quarterly basis. In comparison, non-oil activities recorded a 3.7 per cent growth on an annual basis.
In the latest estimates for the Saudi economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated a projected growth of 7.6 per cent this year and a 3.7 per cent growth next year in 2023.
Source: Saudi Gazette/Al Arabiya/Agencies
