Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Foreign investments in Saudi Arabia increased 4 percent year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 2.50 trillion ($666. 39 billion) by the end of Q2 2023, Argaam reported, citing Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) data.
The foreign investment balance recorded an increase of 5 percent quarter-on-quarter, or nearly SAR 109.9 billion.
Foreign direct investments (FDIs) represent 41 percent, or SAR 1.02 trillion, of total investments, Argaam reported.
Portfolio investments, which include equity, investment funds and debt bonds, reached SAR 932.6 billion, in addition to other investments at SAR 548.1 billion.
Industrial sector investments
The Kingdom’s industrial sector saw more than SAR 542 billion ($144 billion) in foreign and joint investments until mid-May, which translates into 37 percent of the sector’s total, and 17 percent of total existing factories.
A spokesman of the ministry said in a statement that foreign investors had 930 factories in the kingdom, or 9 percent of the total with over SAR 71 billion investments. Joint investments reached 924, or 8 percent of the total with more than SAR 470 billion investments.
The number of factories totaled 10,910 with over SAR 1.46 trillion investments in the five-month period.