RIYADH — The Saudi economy registered the highest growth rate among G20 countries last year, official statistics show. Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.7% in 2022, exceeding the international forecasts, which put it at maximum of 8.3.%. The current growth rate is the highest annual rate in a decade, according to figures issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) on Thursday. The GDP report and national accounts indicators for the 4th quarter of 2022 confirmed the data. In the same context, GASTAT announced that the Saudi GDP crossed, at current prices, the $1 trillion mark in 2022 — for the first time in history. Various activities contributed to achieving this record. All economic activities registered positive growth rates during the year. The contribution of crude oil and natural gas activities reached 32.7%, followed by government services at 14.2%, manufacturing activities except oil refining at 8.6% and wholesale and retail trade activities, restaurants and hotels at 8.2%. The policies adopted by Saudi Arabia to support the national economy have contributed to diversifying its sources and provided an appropriate environment to achieve GDP growth in all its components during the past year. These economic and financial reforms, the Saudi vision programs and initiatives, and major projects, in addition to investment opportunities for development funds and the private sector. The results revealed positive growth in non-oil activities at 5.4% in 2022 with the transportation, storage, and communications activities making the highest growth in non-oil sector at 9.1%, followed by manufacturing activities, except oil refining, at 7.7%. During the 4th quarter of 2022, the report revealed that real GDP increased by 5.5% compared to the same period the previous year, as non-oil activities increased by 6.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. The report also showed real GDP growth of oil activities during the 4th quarter of 2022, which stood at 6.1% compared to the case same period in 2021, while the seasonally adjusted real GDP increased by 1.3%, during the 4th quarter of 2022, compared to the 3rd quarter of the same year.
