Oil Drives Saudi Economy to Highest Annual Growth Since 2022

SadaNews - The Saudi economy recorded its highest annual growth since 2022 in 2025, with GDP increasing by 4.5%, driven by a rebound in the oil sector under the new supply policy adopted by the "OPEC+" alliance.

The rapid estimates released by the General Authority for Statistics today, Sunday, surpass the estimates of the Saudi Ministry of Finance, which projected a growth of 4.4%, and also exceed the International Monetary Fund's forecast of 4.3% according to the latest review in January 2026.

Oil activities recorded a growth rate of 5.6%, leading the momentum of the macro economy, after expanding by 5.6% throughout 2025, following a two-year contraction. This improvement was supported by easing production restraints, after the OPEC+ alliance effectively ended nearly two years of voluntary cuts amounting to 2.2 million barrels per day in August 2025.

Saudi production reached about 10 million barrels per day during the last three months of last year, the highest level since early 2023, according to data collected by Bloomberg.

Growth Rate of Non-Oil Activities

In contrast, non-oil activities continued to grow, although the pace slowed for the third consecutive year, recording a growth of 4.9% last year compared to 6% in 2024, the slowest pace since the Corona year of 2020 when activity then contracted by 3%.

GDP data released on Sunday confirms that economic activity in Saudi Arabia remains a bright spot, at a time when the country is facing financial pressures.

Limited Quarterly Acceleration

Data from the fourth quarter of 2025 showed an acceleration in economic activity, as the economy recorded its strongest quarterly pace of the year at 4.9%. However, despite the strong performance, the quarterly comparison indicates that the acceleration was limited, especially since the third quarter had recorded a growth of 4.8%.

In terms of quarterly components, oil activities rose by 10.4%, the highest quarterly growth rate since the third quarter of 2022 when the increase was 14%.

In contrast, non-oil activities continued to slow for the second consecutive quarter, recording the lowest growth since the fourth quarter of 2020, when activity then contracted by 0.7%.