Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector grew at a strong rate, a positive sign for the Saudi government’s Vision 2030 economic and social reform drive that puts diversification of the economy away from oil as a top goal.
On the whole, however, the Kingdom’s economy contracted in 2023 as oil supply cuts to stabilize prices took a toll. The country’s overall economic performance saw real gross domestic product (GDP) decline of 0.9 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, indicators that despite the progress on diversification of the Kingdom’s economy, more is needed to achieve true diversification.
This decrease in GDP was a result of the decrease in oil activities by 9.2% despite the growth of non-oil and government activities
by 4.6% and 2.1%, respectively, the GASTAT said in a report.
Real GDP decreased by 3.7% in Q4/2023 compared to Q4/2022. This result was due “to the decrease in oil activities by 16.4%, while non-oil
activities and government activities grew by 4.3% and 3.1% respectively, on an annual basis,” the GASTAT said.
Meanwhile, Seasonally adjusted real GDP recoded a growth of 0.4% in Q4/2023, compared to the previous quarter (Q3/2023). This increase was due to the increase of non-oil activities by 2.6%. The government activities increased by 1.1%, while oil activities recoded a decrease of 2.7%.
