By Rachna Uppal
ABU DHABI, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s economy grew 4.9% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, according to government estimates, bolstered by strong growth in non-oil activities and increased oil production.
Oil related growth surged in the quarter, up 10.4% as output ramped up in the latter half of the year. Non-oil activities grew around 4% from the prior year period.
Real GDP grew 4.5% in full year 2025, preliminary estimates by the statistics agency showed, with oil activities expanding 5.6% from the previous year and non-oil growth at 4.9%.
Having curbed oil production over several years in a bid to support the oil market, Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and a leading member of the OPEC+ group of nations, which also includes Russia, started easing those curbs in April.
The kingdom has also advanced to the third phase of its economic transformation plan, known as Vision 2030, stressing implementation of ambitious projects and strategies to expand the private sector and develop non-oil sectors such as tourism, AI and manufacturing.
As part of a recalibration of priorities, it is pivoting from heavy expenditure on futuristic projects such as NEOM’s The Line, to initiatives seen as more pressing and potentially profitable, while also taking into account mounting fiscal pressures.
“There are questions around how long Saudi Arabia will be able to maintain this pace of growth as it reexamines its spending priorities at the start of the year,” said Daniel Richards, senior economist at Emirates NBD, in a note.
“For the near term, however, we believe that the sheer scale of Saudi Arabia’s spending plans, will be sufficient to maintain robust growth.”
The government has forecast growth of 4.6% in 2026.
(Reporting by Rachna Uppal; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
