Saudi Arabia’s net inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) amounted to SAR16 billion ($4.26 billion) during the third quarter of 2024, recording a 37 percent increase compared to SAR11.7 billion in the second quarter of the year.
The General Authority of Statistics attributed this surge in FDI to a 74 percent decline in the volume of investments leaving the country, compared to the second quarter of 2024, which saw outflows of SAR7.8 billion.
Saudi Arabia sees SAR18 billion in FDI inflows
The data also revealed that the volume of FDI outflows amounted to about SAR2 billion during the third quarter of 2024, rising 27 percent compared to the third quarter of 2023. Saudi Arabia’s net FDI inflows declined 24 percent year-on-year in Q3 of 2024 from SAR21.1 billion during the third quarter of 2023.
Saudi Arabia recorded FDI inflows of SAR18 billion in Q3, a decline of 21 percent compared to the third quarter of 2023 which saw inflows of approximately SAR22.6 billion. Meanwhile, it recorded a decrease of 8 percent in investments entering the country compared to the second quarter of 2024, which recorded SAR19.4 billion.
Read: UAE’s real GDP grows 3.6 percent to $239.5 billion in H1 2024
Kingdom updates investment law
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers approved the updated investment law, building on previous reforms under Vision 2030 and the National Investment Strategy. The Kingdom’s investment law updates brought together several existing freedoms and rights and applied them to investors under one unified framework, ensuring greater transparency, flexibility and confidence for investors.
Saudi Arabia’s pro-investment measures in recent years include the introduction of the Civil Transactions Law, Private Sector Participation Law, Companies Law, Bankruptcy Law and Special Economic Zones.
These initiatives and developments, in addition to incentives, facilities and enablers, have motivated investors to seek the country’s positive, supportive and stable investment environment. They have also helped drive rapid investment growth, with gross fixed capital formation increasing by 74 percent from 2016 to nearly $300 billion in 2023.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia’s FDI inflows rose by 50 percent year-on-year to $25.6 billion, beating the target of SAR83 billion by 16 percent. Total FDI stock stood at SAR897 billion by the end of 2023, accounting for 22.5 percent of GDP and up 13 percent from the previous year. The manufacturing, finance and insurance, construction and wholesale and retail trade sectors were the top sectors attracting FDI last year, making up 78 percent of total FDI inflows in 2023.
The National Investment Strategy is targeting FDI of $100 billion by 2030, or almost 6 percent of Saudi Arabia’s GDP.
