Saudi Arabia’s construction sector, the largest in the Middle East, grew by a solid four percent in the second quarter of 2023, supported by a giga-project push within its Vision 2030 economic diversification scheme, a key investment firm said on Tuesday.

The Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments, a Saudi investment consultancy company, said in a report sent to Zawya Projects that growth in the second quarter was lower than the averaged six percent rise recorded in the previous four quarters.

The report said the construction sector in the world’s largest oil exporter also surged by around 8.8 percent in the second quarter of 2022, one of its highest growth levels in years.

“Construction had a solid second quarter this year, growing by four percent, year-on-year, though this does represent something of a slowdown from the near six percent growth witnessed in the previous four quarters,” the report said.

“The sector has naturally benefitted from the giga-project push, along with plenty of routine investments—in roads, bridges, power plants, water treatment facilities—which need to be rolled out to meet the needs of a rising population.”

According to the report, there was a slowdown in hiring in the construction sector but that was due to a labour shortage in the Kingdom.

The pace of hiring picked up from the previous months, with wholesale and retail firms attributing this to stronger new business and the hiring of marketing staff, it said.

“This contrasts with construction companies, which reported the weakest rise in employment. The latter is likely a result of shortage of construction workers rather than any meaningful softening of demand.”

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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