Riyadh (awp/afp) – Saudi Arabia’s GDP increased by nearly 12% in the second quarter of 2022, thanks to rising oil prices, authorities of the wealthy Gulf monarchy announced on Sunday.
Among the world’s major crude exporters, Saudi Arabia has benefited in recent months from a surge in oil prices following the post-Covid recovery and also the war in Ukraine, after several years of decline that had affected the first Arab economy.
“Saudi Arabia’s real GDP grew by 11.8% in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the second quarter of 2021,” according to estimates released by the General Statistics Authority.
This growth is due to “the significant increase in oil activities of 23.1%, in addition to the increase in non-oil activities of 5.4%”, she said.
In May, Saudi Arabia announced its highest growth rate in ten years, with an increase of 9.6% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, already thanks to the boom in the petroleum sector.
The rise in crude oil prices benefits exporting countries, including those in the Gulf, courted by Western powers who are asking them to open the floodgates of production to calm the markets and thus limit global inflation.
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who has effectively ruled the country since 2017, received US President Joe Biden in early July and met French Head of State Emmanuel Macron this week.
But like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, which leads OPEC+ with Russia, is sticking to the production commitments of this powerful cartel of exporting countries.
Saudi Arabia is expected to see its GDP grow by 7.6% in 2022 compared to last year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
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