Economy of Saudi Arabia

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Economy of Saudi Arabia

Riyadh, the financial center of Saudi Arabia
Currency	Saudi Riyal (SAR)[a]
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	WTO, OPEC, and GCC
Country group	Developing/Emerging[3] High income economy[4]
Statistics
Population	37,299,502 (2023 census)[5]
GDP	$1.057 trillion (Nominal, 2024)[6] $2.354 trillion (PPP, 2024)[6]
GDP rank	18th (nominal, 2024) 17th (PPP, 2024)
GDP growth	-0.8% (2023)[6] 2.6% (2024f)[6] 6.0% (2025f)[6]
GDP per capita	$28,364 (nominal; 2024)[6] $70,333 (PPP; 2024)[6]
GDP per capita rank	35th (nominal, 2024) 15th (PPP, 2024)
GDP by sector	(2017 est.)[7] Agriculture: 2.6% Industry: 44.2% Services: 53.2%
Inflation (CPI)	1.6% (2024)[8]
Gini coefficient	45.9 high (2013 est.)[7]
Human Development Index	0.875 very high (2022)[9] (40th) N/A IHDI (2022)
Labour force	13.8 million (2017 est.)[7] 52.4% employment rate (2018)[10]
Labour force by occupation	(2005 est.)[7] agriculture: 6.7% industry: 21.4% services: 71.9%
Unemployment	7.36% (2021 est.)[7][b]
Main industries	Crude oil production petroleum refining petrochemicals ammonia industrial gases sodium hydroxide cement fertilizer plastics metals ship repair aircraft repair construction
External
Exports	$286.5 billion (2021 est.)[7]
Export goods	crude petroleum, refined petroleum, polymers, industrial alcohols, natural gas (2019)[7]
Main export partners	China 18.8%  India 12.8%  Japan 10.1%  South Korea 9.9%  United States 6.6%  United Arab Emirates 2.7%  Singapore 2.6%  Netherlands 2.3% (2022)[11]
Imports	$213.0 billion (2021 est.)[7]
Import goods	machinery and equipment, chemicals, packaged medicine, motor vehicles, textiles, broadcasting equipment, telephones[7]
Main import partners	China 21.5%  United Arab Emirates 16.4%  United States 6.5%  India 5.9%  Germany 4.2%  Japan 2.9%   Switzerland 2.9%  South Korea 2.9%  United Kingdom 2.6%  France 2.4% (2022)[11]
Current account	$15.23 billion (2017 est.)[7]
Gross external debt	$205.1 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[7]
Public finances
Government debt	17.2% of GDP (2017 est.)
Budget balance	8.9% (of GDP) (2017 est.)[7]
Revenues	310 billion (2023 est.)[7]
Expenses	330.8 billion (2023 est.)[7]
Foreign reserves	$451.587 billion (April 2022)[12] (8th)
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Saudi Arabia is the second-largest in the Middle East and the seventeenth-largest in the world.^[6] The Saudi economy is highly reliant on its petroleum sector. Oil accounts on average in recent years for approximately 40% of Saudi GDP and 75% of fiscal revenue, with substantial fluctuations depending on oil prices each year.^[13]

The kingdom has the second-largest proven petroleum reserves,^[14] and the fourth-largest measured natural gas reserves.^[15] Saudi Arabia is currently the largest exporter of petroleum in the world.^[16] Other major parts of the economy include refining and chemical manufacturing from the oil reserves, much of which is vertically integrated in the state-owned enterprise, Saudi Aramco. Saudi Arabia is a permanent and founding member of OPEC.

In 2016, the Saudi government launched its Saudi Vision 2030 program to reduce its dependency on oil and diversify its economic resources.^[17] By 2022, Saudi Arabia had only modestly reduced its dependence on oil.^[13]

Monetary policy in Saudi Arabia is anchored by the fixed exchange rate of the Saudi Riyal to the U.S. Dollar.^[18]

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