Saudi GDP grows 8.8% in Q3 2022 on higher oil activities

Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS

Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.8 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022, on higher oil activities, according to a report released by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

Real GDP grew 2.1 percent quarter-on-quarter. Oil activities rose 14.2 percent year-on-year and 4.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2022.

Non-oil activities rose six percent year-on-year, but decreased 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Government activities jumped by 2.5 percent year-on-year. Crude petroleum and natural gas activity jumped by 14.8 percent year-on-year, contributing 35.2 percent to the national GDP.

The non-oil economic activities outside the government contributed 50.7 percent to GDP, with manufacturing (excluding petroleum refining) contributing a share of 7.8 percent, GASTAT said.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s non-oil business activity expanded at the fastest rate in seven years in November, supported by a sharp rise in new orders and continued confidence in the growth outlook, a Riyad Bank survey showed.

The seasonally adjusted Saudi Arabian Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 58.5 in November from 57.2 in October, the highest level since September 2021.

Saudi Arabia is also expected to post a second consecutive budget surplus in 2023, though down 84 percent from this year, as an uncertain global economic outlook and lower crude prices look set to weigh on the top oil exporter’s revenues, Reuters reported.

The kingdom approved a SAR 1.114 trillion ($296 billion) budget for 2023, forecasting a surplus of 0.4 percent of GDP, down from an expected 2.6 percent in 2022.