Saudi economic growth stays near decade-high as oil powers rebound

Saudi economic growth stays near decade-high as oil powers rebound

Saudi economic growth stays near decade-high as oil powers rebound

February 10 2022 09:48 PM



A Saudi woman counts banknotes as she makes a purchase at a jewellery shop in the Tiba gold market in the capital Riyadh (file). Non-oil gross domestic product ق€“ the engine of job creation ق€“ gained 5% while the oil economy grew 10.8%, according to preliminary estimates released by the General Authority for Statistics on Thursday.



Bloomberg/Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s economy expanded 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2021, maintaining the fastest pace of annual growth in almost a decade as high oil prices boost the kingdom’s income and drive its recovery from the shock of the pandemic.

Non-oil gross domestic product – the engine of job creation – gained 5% while the oil economy grew 10.8%, according to preliminary estimates released by the General Authority for Statistics on Thursday. Growth for the full year of 2021 was 3.3%, the authority said, slightly better than Saudi officials’ predictions of 2.9% growth.

The figures suggest that the omicron Covid-19 variant had a relatively limited economic impact in the world’s largest crude exporter, at least until January. The oil market helped, with Brent crude prices averaging nearly $80