Saudi Arabia’s economy grew by 7% in Q3, the highest ever since 2012, driven by higher oil production, according to data released by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (Gastat) on Monday.
The annual real GDP growth was revised up by Gastat from an initial estimate of 6.8%. On a quarterly basis, the Kingdom’s GDP expanded by 5.7% in Q3/2021 vs Q2/2020.
YoY Oil operations jumped by 9.3% in Q3, the highest in 10 years, and by an impressive 12.7% on a quarterly basis, fueled by larger global oil demand.
“Economic growth was mainly driven by oil activities, which increased by 9.3% YoY (12.7% QoQ). Non-oil activities grew by 6.3% YoY and 2.6% QoQ,” according to Gastat’s website.
Monday’s released data reflected a strong and speedy recovery for the Saudi economy following a year of near-paralysis among economies worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, which nearly brought the world to a standstill.
Riyadh expects its overall economy to grow this year by around 7.4% this year, after it grew by less than 3% last year.
“All economic activities recorded a positive annual growth in the third quarter of 2021,” said Gastat, attributing the strong results to robust domestic demand.
The Kingdom’s real GDP stood at SAR820.14 bln ($218.7 bln) in Q3, with Non-oil activities contributing to 48.4%.
Saudi Arabia, whose ambitious Vision2030 and future plans reflect a much more diversified economy away from hydrocarbon revenues, said that oil activities contributed to 32.9% of the GDP, with “crude petroleum and natural gas activities” being responsible for the “highest contribution to GDP with 26.6%.”
