Saudi economy in 2024: Key milestones

Saudi Arabia's economic indicators for 2024 reflect significant stability and rapid growth, driven by the reforms taken over the past years aimed at sustaining and diversifying the economy.

Many of Vision 2030 targets have been realized, with several relevant indicators surpassing their goals for 2030 ahead of schedule, raising aspirations for even higher targets.

The real GDP for 2024 rose by 1.3% compared to 2023, driven by the growth of various economic sectors, particularly non-oil activities, which recorded the highest growth.

The real GDP growth from non-oil activities reached 3.9% in 2024, driven by continued investment expansion in the non-oil sectors, with non-oil activities growing by 4.3%.

These sectors currently contribute to more than half of Saudi Arabia’s economy, marking a historical achievement in the Kingdom’s efforts to develop the non-oil sector since the launch of Vision 2030.

The contribution of non-oil activities to real GDP increased to 51% since the launch of Vision 2030, marking its highest ever level.

The unemployment rate among Saudis reached a historic low in 2024, achieving Vision 2030’s target. Additionally, the female workforce participation rate reached its highest ever levels, exceeding the 2030 target.

Inflation remained stable at 1.7% by the end of 2024, among the lowest rates in the G20, due to efforts to balance economic growth with healthy inflation rates.

Saudi Arabia has become a prominent investment hub globally, driven by a series of structural reforms that have reinforced a solid economic base, supporting business growth and attracting investments from around the world.

The nominal fixed capital formation increased, driven by the non-governmental fixed capital formation, which indicates growth and attractiveness of the investment environment as well as private sector confidence, fostering the growth of foreign investments.

The Kingdom ranked sixth globally in total investment as a percentage of GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund, among the G20 countries.

FDI inflows to Saudi Arabia reached SAR 77.6 billion in 2024.

**Aramco exceptional deal: SAR 55 billion– Target: SAR 61 billion.

***Target: SAR 83 billion.

****Target: SAR 109 billion.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the non-oil private sector hit 58.1 points in Q4 2024, driven by strong demand and continued growth across key sectors.

Saudi Arabia emerged as a leader among the G20 in terms of PMI, driven by the country’s development of the non-oil sector, along with the positive performance of the private sector in seizing growth opportunities. This reflects the empowering and prosperous environment in the country, which positively impacted Saudi Arabia’s ranking on the index. It also highlights the strong domestic demand in the Saudi market, driving continued growth in production levels.

The positive outlook for the Saudi economy further reinforces the efforts made in recent years to strengthen the country’s economic position, fostering economic diversification through investments in promising non-oil sectors.

Additionally, the government restructured the state’s public budget system to make it more flexible and future-oriented. This restructuring resulted in a historic shift in the growth of non-oil revenues, which have soared 171% since 2016. This shift helped reduce the country’s dependence on oil revenues, ensuring sustainable spending and accelerating development without being impacted by global oil price fluctuations.

Saudi Arabia's credit rating was upgraded by the world’s leading credit rating agencies, thanks to its effective fiscal policies and economic strategies.

These agencies depended on the growth of the non-oil economy, the country’s strong financial position, its robust foreign currency reserves, and the improvement in budget, which saw a rise in public revenues. This was in addition to the rapid growth of the non-oil economy since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030, which aimed to achieve sustainable economic growth.