RIYADH: In the second quarter of 2024, Saudi Arabia’s economy grew by 1.4% compared to that of the previous year, according to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). The Kingdom’s oil sector rose to 1.3% and the non-oil sector rose to 1.4%.
Government activities showed a significant rise by 3.2% in Q2 2024 as compared to Q1. The development of non-oil sectors is crucial as the country is trying to stabilize the economy by reducing its dependency on oil revenues. Non-oil activities in 2023 recorded their highest by contributing 50% of the country’s GDP.
Even though the economy grew in the second quarter, the overall GDP declined by 0.4% year-on-year, driven mainly by an 8.5% reduction of oil activities. This decline is due to Saudi Arabia’s cut in its crude oil output, a part of the OPEC+ deal. The Kingdom reduced its oil output by 500,000 barrels per day in April 2023, extended until December 2024.
Non-oil activities increased by 4.4% as of the same period the previous year and government activities increased by 3.6%. Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index increased to 0.9% in May compared to April, although it declined by 2.9% compared to May 2023 because of reduced oil activities.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts a GDP growth of 1.7% for Saudi Arabia by 2024 and for 2025, an increase of 4.7% is expected.
