The Saudi economy has been on an upward growth trajectory in recent years, expanding by 2.7% in 2013 and 3.6% in 2014. This has been primarily driven by the non-oil sector, which has grown at a rate of at least 5% per year in the decade to 2014. For its part, the oil and gas sector also saw modest improvement in 2014, expanding by 0.8% year-on-year (y-o-y). While the Kingdom entered the period of…
Home to an estimated 15.7% of the world’s proven oil reserves and the single largest economy in the Middle East and North Africa, Saudi Arabia is a key player not only in the region but also globally. Since the establishment of Saudi Arabia in September 1932, the Kingdom has poured its considerable resources into a series of large-scale economic development, diversification and modernisation…
The transition to a new era of foreign participation in the Kingdom’s bourse, the Saudi Stock Exchange, also known as the Tadawul, has been a keenly anticipated event in the region’s financial markets. However, this is only the latest step in a longer process of market reform, where the exchange has evolved from a single-product market to an increasingly diverse investment platform. With a raft…
With its sound government finances coupled with investor- and trade-friendly policies, Saudi Arabia has been successful in attracting strong investment inflows. Now the government appears determined to proceed with reforms that are designed to garner further foreign direct investment (FDI). According to the IMF, the Kingdom “compares relatively well across a number of business indicators”. Meanwhile,…
Thanks to its large population, a renowned hydrocarbons industry and an increasingly diverse non-oil sector, Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s wealthiest nations and a member of the G20 group of major economies. IMF data shows its GDP to be larger than that of advanced economies such as Sweden, Norway and Austria, as well as those of Middle East and African giants such as Egypt and Nigeria. Strong…
Following the costly price competition of 2013, which eroded profitability across the sector, the market has responded to regulatory intervention and returned to a trajectory of sustainable growth over the course of 2014. With expansion potential emerging from both big-ticket projects and the high-volume, low-value business at the retail end of the market, 2015 is so far proving to be a positive year…
Home to the holiest site in Islam – the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba contained within it – and a place of pilgrimage for millions of Muslims, Makkah is a unique city. Its special status also presents local authorities with a unique set of challenges, not least how to expand capacity and facilities in a way that both satisfies the needs of pilgrims, for whom visiting Makkah is a religious duty, and…
The Kingdom’s second-largest city and its most significant seaport, Jeddah is a key engine of the Saudi economy. The “Bride of the Red Sea” is currently experiencing rapid population growth, as rural dwellers and migrant workers arrive in search of jobs and opportunities. To meet the infrastructural challenge presented by the pace of growth, municipal authorities and the central government have…
Providing power for its rising population represents a significant challenge for Saudi Arabia, with the Kingdom generating more than twice as much electricity in 2015 as it did in 2000 in order to meet growing demand. According to the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA), the Kingdom will have to invest some $140bn before 2020 to increase generating capacity at Saudi Electricity…
The drop in global oil prices in the second half of 2014 thrust Saudi Arabia’s energy sector into the spotlight, but the consequences for the Kingdom vary significantly depending on whether they are measured in terms of production, price or perception. Production Viewed purely in terms of barrels of crude oil produced, Saudi Arabia has steered a very steady course through volatile conditions in…
