31-12-2025
Results of the Digital Economy Survey 2024 indicated an increase in the digital economy’s share in Saudi Arabia’s GDP, reaching 16.0% compared to 15.6% in 2023, an increase of 0.4 percentage points. According to the digital economy classifications, the core digital economy contributed 2.7%, while the narrow digital economy accounted for 2.4%. The broad digital economy represented the largest share, amounting to 10.9% of GDP.
Publication’s results indicated that the operating revenues of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector reached SAR 249.8 billion in 2024. Telecommunications activities recorded the highest revenues, amounting to SAR 133.9 billion, followed by computer programming activities with revenues of SAR 31.1 billion.
Operating expenditures for the sector totaled SAR 122.2 billion, while employee compensation reached SAR 29.2 billion. Telecommunications activities also ranked first in this category, with compensation amounting to SAR 16.1 billion.
In terms of foreign trade, the results indicated an increase in imports of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) goods from SAR 54.9 billion in 2023 to SAR 67.9 billion in 2024, representing a growth rate of 23.5%. Telecommunications equipment accounted for the largest share of these imports, with a value of SAR 36.8 billion.
Meanwhile, the value of exports and re-exports of ICT goods rose significantly, reaching SAR 25.8 billion in 2024 compared to SAR 11.8 billion in 2023, reflecting a growth rate of 118%
It is noteworthy that Digital Economy Statistics are based on a unified methodological framework that follows the Statistical Business Process Model and adheres to the international standards outlined in the Handbook on Measuring the Digital Economy issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, 2020). The methodology is also aligned with the G20 roadmap for measuring the digital economy. The digital economy is classified into three levels: core, narrow, and broad according to the nature of economic activities and the extent of their reliance on digital inputs.
31-07-2025
The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released flash estimates for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Q2 of 2025.
The real GDP grew by 3.9% compared to the same period in 2024. Non-oil activities recorded a growth of 4.7%, oil activities grew by 3.8%, while government activities increased by 0.6%, according to the publication’s results.
The publication also showed that seasonally adjusted real GDP increased by 2.1% compared to Q1 of 2025. Oil activities recorded a growth of 5.6%, non-oil activities increased by 1.6%, while government activities decreased by 0.8%.
It is worth noting that the flash (quarterly) GDP estimates are preliminary assessments of real growth rates, released shortly after the end of the reference quarter when complete data is not yet available. GASTAT will publish the final results once all data has been collected and verified.
09-06-2025
The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report for the first quarter of 2025. According to the publication’s results, real GDP achieved a growth rate of 3.4% compared to the same quarter of 2024, driven by a 4.9% growth in non-oil activities, in addition to a 3.2% growth in government activities, while oil activities recorded a decline of 0.5%. Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted real GDP rose by 1.1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.
The results also showed that non-oil activities are the main driver to the annual real GDP growth, contributing 2.8 percentage points. Additionally, government activities and net taxes on products contributed positively by 0.5 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively.
It is worth noting that most economic activities achieved positive annual growth rates. Wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels recorded the highest growth rates during the first quarter of 2025, reaching 8.4% year-on-year and 0.7% quarter-on-quarter.
30-01-2025
The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released the flash estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2024. According to GASTAT’s estimates, the real GDP achieved a growth of 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the same period of the previous year, marking the highest growth rate in the last two years, supported by the growth of key economic activities. Non-oil activities recorded an increase of 4.6%, while oil activities grew by 3.4%. Additionally, government activities rose by 2.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. The results also showed that the seasonally adjusted real GDP increased by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the third quarter of the same year.
It is worth mentioning that the quarterly flash estimates of GDP provide an assessment of the real growth rates shortly after the reference quarter ends, even when the data for that quarter is still incomplete. GASTAT will publish the actual real GDP results for the fourth quarter of 2024 in March 2025.