Saudi Arabia attracted 203 greenfield FDI projects in the first half of 2025, with total capital inflows reaching $9.34 billion. The Kingdom witnessed a 30.1 percent increase in the number of projects from 156 in H1 2024, while capital investment grew by 1.7 percent from $9.18 billion.
According to the latest report by EmiratesNBD, Riyadh emerged as the dominant destination, attracting 100 projects with capital inflows of $2.30 billion. Dammam secured 21 projects worth $1.28 billion, while Jeddah attracted 13 projects valued at $1.22 billion, demonstrating the Kingdom’s multi-city investment appeal aligned with Vision 2030 objectives.
United States is Saudi Arabia’s largest source of greenfield FDI
The report also revealed that the United States was Saudi Arabia’s largest source of greenfield FDI with 61 projects totaling $2.7 billion, representing 30 percent of all projects and 29 percent of total capital investment.
Egypt ranked second in capital investment with $1.81 billion from just 11 projects, driven by major real estate developments. China contributed $858.3 million through 11 projects, while France invested $771.7 million across 6 projects.
The UAE has also reinforced the strong regional partnerships with 25 projects worth $205.3 million.
Business services sector leads by project count
Saudi Arabia’s business services sector dominated in the number of greenfield FDI projects with 55 projects, representing 27 percent of total projects. This sector encompasses diverse activities, including environmental services, consulting and water infrastructure development.
Software and IT services came second with 35 projects, driven by the Kingdom’s digital transformation agenda and growing tech ecosystem. Transportation and warehousing secured 14 projects, while industrial equipment also attracted 14 projects, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s industrial diversification efforts. Financial services drew 11 projects, underscoring the Kingdom’s emergence as a regional financial hub.
Despite having only 11 projects, the communications sector attracted the highest capital investment at $1.92 billion, accounting for 21 percent of total FDI inflows to Saudi Arabia. This was largely driven by Equinix’s $1 billion data center investment announced at LEAP 2025. Real estate came second with $1.79 billion from just nine projects, reflecting high-value mega developments. Meanwhile, electronic components attracted $879.3 million, followed by transportation & warehousing, and chemicals, demonstrating the Kingdom’s success in attracting capital-intensive industrial investments.
LEAP 2025 sets the stage for future growth
Beyond the immediate FDI captured in H1 2025, the LEAP 2025 technology conference in February generated $14.9 billion in investment commitments that will materialize over the coming years, creating a robust pipeline for future FDI flows.
Major announcements included Groq and Aramco Digital’s $1.5 billion AI infrastructure partnership, Alat and Lenovo’s $2 billion commitment for an advanced robotics manufacturing hub, DataVolt’s $5 billion agreement to develop a 1.5GW data center campus in NEOM’s Oxagon, and significant platform investments from global tech giants including Databricks, Salesforce, and Tencent Cloud.
As these projects move from planning to execution phases over 2026-2028, they will significantly boost future FDI inflows to Saudi Arabia, working to narrow the gap between Saudi Arabia’s 2030 target of $100 billion in annual FDI from the current rate of approximately $20 billion.
