Fiscal Balance in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's fiscal deficit from 2013 to 2022 mirrored global oil market trends and domestic economic reforms. Early in the decade, high oil prices facilitated budget surpluses, but the mid-decade oil price crash led to significant deficits. Investments as part of the Vision 2030 reform plan, aimed at economic diversification, also impacted fiscal dynamics. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified fiscal pressures, but by 2022, rising oil prices and ongoing reforms to spur non-oil sector growth saw the fiscal balance return to surplus.
The fiscal balance in Saudi Arabia averaged -4.4% of GDP in the decade to 2022, above the Middle East & North Africa's average of -5.1% of GDP. The fiscal balance in 2022 was 2.5% of GDP. For more fiscal balance information, visit our dedicated page.
Saudi Arabia Fiscal Balance Chart
Saudi Arabia Fiscal Balance Data
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiscal Balance (% of GDP) | -4.2 | -10.7 | -2.2 | 2.5 | -2.0 |
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Saudi Arabian fiscal balance projections for the next ten years from a panel of 20 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable fiscal balance forecast available for Saudi Arabian fiscal balance.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Saudi Arabian fiscal balance projections.
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