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28 March 2024

Saudi nominal GDP up 24.1% in first half

Major sub-sectors such as manufacturing excluding oil refining and construction and building grew by 9.2 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively. (SUPPLIED)

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By Staff

Strong oil prices allied with expansion of other sectors boosted Saudi Arabia’s nominal GDP by around 24.1 per cent in the first half of 2010 following a steep fall in 2009, according to official data.

From around SR643.3 billion in the first half of 2009, the Kingdom’s GDP surged to nearly SR798.5 billion in the first half of this year, showed the figures by the Central Department for Statistics and Information (CDSI).

“The sharp jump in the growth in the first half is a reflection of the recovery in oil prices and production in the Kingdom compared to the low base of the first half of 2009,” CDSI said in its latest economy report.
It showed the oil sector jumped more than 44 per cent while growth in the government sector was 13.5 per cent during the period.

But the report showed growth in the private sector was sharply lower, rising by around 6.5 percent in the first half of 2010.

Major sub-sectors such as manufacturing excluding oil refining and construction and building grew by 9.2 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively, it said.

The pick up in the non-oil sector is underlined by the strong growth in non-oil exports, according to the report which showed such exports leaped by 22 per cent year-on-year in June after a 39 per cent year-on-year increase in May.