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Saudi Arabia is now leading the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, with its gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter rising faster than any other major economy in the world, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
With a significant increase in oil activities, the kingdom’s economy grew 2.6 percent quarter-on-quarter during the first three months of 2022, the highest in the G20 forum of the world’s major economies, OECD said.
The Saudi economy has been gathering steam on the back of higher oil prices. On a year-on-year basis, real GDP grew 9.6 percent in the first quarter, the highest increase in the last ten years, according to the General Authority for Statistics.
The record growth was driven by oil activities, which climbed by 20.4 percent. Non-oil activities in the country also grew by 3.7 percent, while government services went up by 2.4 percent year-on-year.
GDP across OECD
Across the OECD area, which comprises 38 countries, GDP growth continued to slow at a growth rate of 0.7 percent, down from the 1.3 percent increase recorded in the last three months of 2021.
The slowdown was primarily caused by the changes in net trade and fall in inventory investment (destocking) and in government spending on pandemic assistance, according to OECD.
Saudi’s GDP growth in the first quarter was also higher than the average growth in the European Union (EU), which posted a 0.5 increase. In other major markets like the United States, United Kingdom, China and Japan, economies were moving slow, with GDP growth rates at -0.4 percent, 0.8 percent, 1.3 percent and -0.1 percent, respectively.
(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
