Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 12.2 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2021, data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed.
This growth, which is the authority’s second reading, is the highest achieved by the Kingdom since the third quarter of 2011.
The second quarter growth figure exceeded a flash government estimate at the end of July of 11.8 percent GDP growth. In Q2, the economy grew 2.2 percent compared to Q1.
“The growth is mainly due to the high increase in oil activities by 22.9 percent y-o-y,” the General Authority for Statistics said. The oil economy grew 4.4 percent in the second quarter from the first quarter.
Non-oil activities rose by 8.2 percent on an annual basis and 4.5 percent compared to the first quarter. Government activities grew by 2.4 percent in the year to the end of June, a 0.4 percent rise compared to the first quarter.
According to GASTAT, the GDP at current prices amounted to 1.048 billion riyals in Q2 2022, with crude oil and natural gas activities contributing 38.7 percent, followed by government services activities contributing 13.9 percent, and manufacturing industries, excluding oil refining, contributing 7.5 percent.
Moreover, data revealed that Saudi’s per capita GDP recorded 29.8 thousand riyals in Q2 2022, a 44.6 percent increase on y-o-y and a 10.6 percent increase on a q-o-q.