Real GDP in Saudi achieved a growth of 3.2 percent in 2021, compared to a decrease of 4.1 percent in 2020, as the economy expanded. It also increased by 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the same quarter in 2020. And compared to the third quarter of 2021, it reached a growth of 1.6 percent.
This was according to estimates by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, which said that economic growth is mainly due to the rise in oil activities, which amounted to 10.9 percent on an annual basis and 1.8 percent on a quarterly basis. The growth in non-oil activities reached 5.1 percent on an annual basis, and 1.2 percent on a quarterly basis.
The International Monetary Fund had estimated the growth of Saudi Arabia’s GDP in 2022 at 4.8 percent. A report issued by Jadwa Investment Company, a Saudi company licensed by the Capital Market Authority, stated that it expected strong levels of economic growth in Saudi in the current year given the high demand for oil resulting from the continued recovery in the global market.
According to the same statistics, government activities recorded a growth of 2.4 percent on an annual basis, and 1.5 percent on a quarterly basis.
The value of the GDP in Q4, 2021 amounted to about 705.52 billion riyals (about $188 billion), compared to about 661.19 billion riyals in the same quarter of the year 2020.
The per capita GDP amounted to 23,737 thousand riyals in the fourth quarter of 2021, an increase of 19.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2020, and 3.7 percent from the third quarter of 2021.
Following the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, Saudi’s economic growth rate experienced a positive shift since Q2, 2021, with a growth of 1.9 percent followed by a growth of 7 percent in Q3, 2021.
Commenting on the growth achieved on an annual basis, the General Authority for Statistics said that the rise was caused by the economy’s recovery from the Corona pandemic through the growth of non-oil activities at a rate of 6.1 percent, and government activities which achieved a growth rate of 1.5 percent, while oil activities achieved a growth of 0.2 percent.
The per capita GDP amounted to 87,415 thousand riyals in 2021, an increase of 16.4 percent from 2020.
