Saudi Arabia released its preliminary Q4 GDP figures this week, confirming that in 2022 the economy grew at its fastest annual rate since 2011. Despite growth slowing down to “just” 5.4% in Q4, full year GDP growth of 8.7% was by far the highest figure since 2011’s 10%. The gains were driven by the booming oil-economy, which grew by 15.4%, the highest rate in more than a decade. With tight markets and ambitious oil and gas expansion projects, robust growth looks assured in the years to come.
Arguably more importantly, Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector grew at a solid 5.2%. While this was a slight drop from the previous year’s 7.2%, putting together back-to-back years of solid growth here is indicative of the kingdom’s economic diversification drive. (CONTINUED - 149 WORDS)