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Economic Growth in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's GDP growth over the last decade partly tracked OPEC decisions on oil output, given the importance of the oil sector to GDP. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp contraction, but recovery was underway by 2022, driven by the lifting of pandemic restrictions and successful economic diversification efforts boosting the non-oil economy. However, tough OPEC oil output cuts caused the economy to return to contraction in 2023 and to remain subdued in 2024, despite a buoyant non-oil sector.
In the year 2024, the economic growth in Saudi Arabia was 1.81%, compared to 4.02% in 2014 and 0.54% in 2023. It averaged 3.05% over the last decade. For more GDP information, visit our dedicated page.
Saudi Arabia GDP Chart
Note: This chart displays Economic Growth (GDP, annual variation in %) for Saudi Arabia from 2014 to 2025.
Source: Macrobond.
Saudi Arabia GDP Data
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Growth (GDP, ann. var. %) | -3.8 | 6.5 | 12.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 |
| GDP (USD bn) | 767 | 982 | 1,237 | 1,218 | 1,253 |
| GDP (SAR bn) | 2,880 | 3,685 | 4,647 | 4,570 | 4,703 |
| Economic Growth (Nominal GDP, ann. var. %) | -13.6 | 28.0 | 26.1 | -1.7 | 2.9 |
| Economic Growth (GDP non-Oil, ann. var. %) | -1.7 | 8.9 | 10.7 | 4.7 | 5.5 |
| Economic Growth (GDP Oil, ann. var. %) | -7.4 | 2.0 | 14.5 | -9.0 | -4.4 |
GDP soars in the third quarter
Strong GDP print meets expectations: According to a preliminary reading, Saudi Arabia's GDP rose 5.0% on an annual basis in Q3, following a 3.9% rise in the previous quarter. The Q3 print matched our Consensus Forecast, and was the strongest since Q1 2023. In seasonally and calendar-adjusted quarter-on-quarter terms, the economy grew 1.4% in Q3, following a 1.7% increase in the previous quarter.
Oil sector drives economic growth: Compared to the prior quarter, readings in Q3 improved for the oil sector (8.2% in year-on-year terms vs 3.8% in Q2) and government non-oil activities (1.8% vs 0.6% in Q2). In contrast, the reading for the private non-oil sector slightly worsened (4.5% vs 4.6% in Q2). The oil sector improved as OPEC+ loosened output curbs, while the non-oil sector maintained strong momentum as the government diversifies the economy away from petroleum production.
GDP growth to peak in Q4: Our panelists expect GDP growth to rise further to a three-year high in Q4 as OPEC+ continues to unwind output curbs. Economic growth should then gently trend down in 2026; OPEC+ is set to pause output hikes in Q1, and a higher year-on-year base of comparison—the cartel began raising production in April this year—will further depress GDP growth. Still, the economy remains on a strong trajectory, with growth of non-oil GDP set to keep rising at an upbeat pace in 2026 as the government continues to diversify the economy away from oil.
Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Saudi Arabian GDP projections for the next ten years from a panel of 30 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable GDP forecast available for Saudi Arabian GDP.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Saudi Arabian GDP projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of Saudi Arabian GDP forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.
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