Economic Growth in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's GDP growth from 2013 to 2022 mirrored the global oil market's fluctuations and domestic economic reforms. Early in the decade, high oil prices facilitated growth, but the mid-2010s oil price crash led to a slowdown and fiscal deficits. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp contraction, but recovery was underway by 2022, driven by rising oil prices and successful economic diversification efforts.
The economy of Saudi Arabia recorded an average real GDP growth of 2.6% in the decade to 2022, above the 2.0% average for the Middle East & North Africa. In 2022, real GDP growth was 8.7%. For more GDP information, visit our dedicated page.
Saudi Arabia GDP Chart
Note: This chart displays Economic Growth (GDP, annual variation in %) for Saudi Arabia from 2014 to 2023.
Source: Macrobond.
Saudi Arabia GDP Data
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Economic Growth (GDP, ann. var. %) | 1.1 | -3.6 | 5.1 | 7.5 | -0.8 |
GDP (USD bn) | 838 | 734 | 874 | 1,107 | 1,067 |
GDP (SAR bn) | 3,145 | 2,754 | 3,278 | 4,157 | 4,003 |
Economic Growth (Nominal GDP, ann. var. %) | -0.9 | -12.4 | 19.1 | 26.8 | -3.7 |
Economic Growth (GDP non-Oil, ann. var. %) | 3.2 | -2.1 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 2.4 |
Economic Growth (GDP Oil, ann. var. %) | -3.3 | -6.9 | 0.6 | 15.2 | -9.1 |
GDP records smallest drop since Q2 2023 in Q1
GDP fell at a softer pace of 1.7% year on year in the first quarter, above the 4.3% contraction logged in the fourth quarter of last year. Q1's reading marked the smallest drop since Q2 2023. On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP rebounded, expanding 1.4% in Q1, contrasting the previous period's 0.6% contraction and marking the best result since Q4 2022.
Private consumption growth fell to 2.0% in Q1, marking the weakest expansion since Q1 2021 (Q4 2023: +4.9% yoy). Government spending picked up to a 6.3% increase in Q1 (Q4 2023: +4.5% yoy). Fixed investment growth accelerated to 4.7% in Q1, following the 2.8% increase in the previous quarter. Exports of goods and services fell 6.6% on an annual basis in the first quarter, which was above the fourth quarter's 10.7% contraction. Conversely, imports of goods and services growth moderated to 1.8% in Q1 (Q4 2023: +5.8% yoy), marking the weakest reading since Q2 2021.
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Saudi Arabian GDP projections for the next ten years from a panel of 27 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 GDP forecast available for Saudi Arabian GDP.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Saudi Arabian GDP projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of Saudi Arabian GDP forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.
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