RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index increased by 15.7 percent in September 2022, compared to the same month in 2021, official data showed.
The index, calculated through an industrial production survey showed positive growth trends, driven by an increase in production activities of mining and quarrying, manufacturing, and electricity and gas supply, according to the General Authority for Statistics.
Mining and quarrying, which held the largest weight of the three categories at 74.5 percent, witnessed a 14.2 percent increase in economic activity year-on-year in September as the Kingdom increased its oil production to more than 11 million bpd.
Manufacturing, and electricity and gas supply, which accounted for weights of 22.6 percent and 2.9 percent, saw a rise in economic activity by 22 percent and 5.5 percent respectively compared to the same period last year.
The growth of the IPI has been positive since May 2021, after a series of months that witnessed negative growth in 2019 and 2020 partially impacted by the effects of the global pandemic.
Since mid-2021, the index’s growth portrayed an upward trend where it sped up at the end of 2021 and proceeded to grow by double digits the year after.
Saudi Arabia’s annual growth of IPI started to outperform the growth rates witnessed in 2018 in August, and continued above the 2018 mark in September.
August this year saw a 16.8 percent IPI growth rate, which surpassed the 5.8 growth percent in Aug. 2021, the 11.6 percent decline in Aug. 2020, and the 7.3 decline in Aug. 2019.
Similarly, September’s 15.7 percent IPI growth rate topped the 6.5 percent growth in Sept. 2021, the 7.5 percent decline in Sept. 2020, as well as the 11.3 percent decline in Sept. 2019.
The Kingdom’s IPI growth at 15.7 percent in September has been the slowest since January of this year when industrial production grew by 11.1 percent year-on-year.
According to GASTAT, the Saudi IPI fell by 0.4 percent month-on-month in September of this year as all 3 sectors dipped slightly.
The dip in September recorded the first decrease in monthly IPI since falling to 102.7 in April of 2021 from 103.8 the month before.
Mining and quarrying dropped by 0.1 percent, manufacturing dropped by 1 percent whereas electricity and gas dropped by 3 percent when compared to August 2022.
