RIYADH: Saudi Arabia recorded the highest growth of real Gross Domestic Product among G20 countries in the third quarter of 2022, with a rate of 8.6 percent, official data showed.
This coincides with a moderate inflation rate at 2.9 percent, which is among the lowest rates among the G20 countries.
According to a new report by the Ministry of Economy and Planning, the real non-oil GDP growth expanded by 5.9 percent after six consecutive quarters.
The manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, construction and transportation were among the main contributors of the Saudi non-oil sector in the third quarter of 2022, the report said.
The Kingdom’s trade balance rose to SR72.7 billion ($19.3 billion) in August, with a growth rate of 87 percent compared to the same period of last year, despite the continuous bottlenecks in supply chains that impede global trade.
Exports to China, Japan and the US increased, while India and South Korea doubled their imports of Saudi goods on an annual basis, with the Kingdom strengthening its vital role in the international arena.
“Looking into the future, our growth prospects remain strong, and investors should be optimistic about the economy's performance in the near term, supported by the improvement of the non-oil sector, and the Kingdom's increasing ability to attract talent, develop tourism, and invest,” Minister of Economy and Planning, Faisal bin Fadel Al-Ibrahim, said.
Al-Ibrahim noted that they will support the resilience of the economy.
Saudi Arabia is expected to grow by 7.6 percent in 2022 and 3.7 percent in 2023, according to International Monetary Fund estimates in The World Economic Outlook Report, issued in October.
The World Bank forecasts higher growth in 2022 than the IMF, coming in at 8.3 percent, before moderating to 3.7 percent and 2.3 percent in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
