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Saudi Arabia’s economy posted a revised second-quarter annualized growth rate of 12.2%, the highest in nearly 11 years, on the back of oil price spikes, official data showed on Wednesday. The figure was stronger than the Q2 GDP flash estimate growth of 11.8%, and the fastest pace recorded since Q3 2011. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and the de facto leader of oil group OPEC, is projected to post its strongest growth in a decade at 7.4% this year amid elevated energy prices.
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The Kingdom’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan pointed out that the Kingdom is also the only country in the Group of Twenty that has upgraded the International Monetary Fund’s forecast for its growth twice in the world in 2022, with the expectation that the high rates of its GDP growth will continue for the coming years and years.
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Al-Jadaan also stated that venture investments in the Kingdom during the first half of the year grew 244% compared to the first half of 2021. During the event, Mohammed ElKuwaiz, chairman of the Capital Market Authority, said Saudi Arabia is aiming to become one of the 15 largest economies in the world by 2030.
Why it matters
Saudi Arabia, Opec's biggest crude producer, is diversifying its economy away from oil, with the development of the housing, infrastructure and tourism sectors among the central planks of the kingdom’s overarching Vision 2030 economic reform agenda. The kingdom has set an ambitious target of raising homeownership rates to 70% by 2030 under the Sakani programme. The country is also developing a number of mega tourism projects as it seeks to raise the economic contribution of the sector from 3% of gross domestic product to 10% by the end of this decade.
