Office occupancy in Riyadh surges to 96% due to influx of foreign businesses

Office occupancy in Riyadh surges to 96% due to influx of foreign businesses

“Businesses from the world over continue to clamour for a piece of the unfolding economic transformation in Saudi Arabia,” said Faisal Durrani, Partner – Head of Middle East Research at Knight Frank.

With the rise in demand, occupancy levels across Riyadh’s prime office buildings have climbed to 96 percent, the highest in at least five years, according to Knight Frank. At the same time, office rents have also gone up by as much as 6.5 percent in the last 12 months to reach 1,560 riyals ($415.8) per square metre.

Demand in other areas

Outside the Saudi capital, other cities are also experiencing an increase in demand for office space, driven by businesses that are returning to the workplace on a full-time basis and higher economic activity due to rising oil prices.

In Jeddah, demand has picked up, although at a slower pace compared to Riyadh. As a result, rents have increased by 2.5 percent during the first quarter, although Grade B rents dipped by 0.5 percent over the same period.

In Saudi’s Dammam Metropolitan Area (DMA), one of the kingdom’s most populous cities, the recent rebound in oil prices is helping boost economic activity and employment levels.

“The resultant impact is a rise in office demand,