Riyadh—Saudi Arabia’s real GDP grew by 8.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022 and the kingdom restricted inflation at 2.9 percent, one of the lowest in the G20 nations, according to the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning.
An economic report issued by the MEP—the ministry will publish such reports quarterly on domestic and global economic updates—real non-oil GDP growth expanded by 5.9 percent.
The report said the kingdom recorded growth for six consecutive quarters.
Manufacturing, wholesale, retail trade, restaurants and hotels, construction and transport were among the key contributors to the kingdom’s non-oil GDP growth in the third quarter of 2022.
The ministry said that “despite persistent supply-chain bottlenecks clogging up global trade”, the kingdom’s trade balance climbed by 87 percent to SAR 72 billion ($19.15 billion) in August 2022.
Exports to China, Japan and the US increased, while India and South Korea doubled imports of Saudi Arabian goods year-on-year.
“The Ministry of Economy and Planning’s first quarterly report is a milestone in our efforts to become more transparent by providing access to the latest data and statistics on the kingdom’s economic performance,” said Faisal F. Alibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning.
“Looking ahead, our growth prospects remain strong, and investors should be bullish about the near-term performance of the economy thanks to strong energy prices, non-oil growth, robust trade and the kingdom’s growing ability to attract talent, tourism and investment,” he said.
Covering eight categories, MEP’s quarterly economic report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the economy across real GDP, monetary policy, fiscal measures, diversification, markets and business, households, investment and trade, and labor markets. Data comes from a variety of government sources including the General Authority for Statistics and the Saudi Central Bank.