Saudi Arabia’s economy posted its strongest growth in two years in 2025, expanding by 4.5 percent, supported by gains across all major economic sectors and a robust performance in the final quarter of the year.
According to estimates released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5 percent in 2025 compared with 2024, driven by growth in oil and non-oil and government activities.
Oil-related activities rose 5.7 percent, while non-oil sectors expanded by 4.9 percent. Government activities recorded more modest growth of 0.9 percent.
Data showed that non-oil sectors were the main contributor to overall GDP growth in 2025, adding 2.8 percentage points to the annual expansion. Oil activities contributed 1.4 percentage points, while government activities and net taxes on products added 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively.
Sector performance
All major economic sectors recorded positive growth during the year.
Wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels led sectoral growth, expanding 6.2 percent. Financial, insurance and business services followed with 6.1 percent, while electricity, gas and water activities grew 6 percent.
Crude oil and natural gas activities increased 5.8 percent, and oil refining rose 5.7 percent.
Spending components
On the expenditure side, private final consumption grew 3.5 percent in 2025. However, government final consumption spending declined 3.5 percent, while gross fixed capital formation fell 1.7 percent.
In external trade, exports of goods and services rose 8.9 percent, while imports increased 4.7 percent during the year. According to the data, Saudi Arabia’s GDP at current prices reached 4.789 trillion riyals in 2025.
Crude oil and natural gas activities accounted for the largest share of economic output at 17.1 percent, followed by government activities at 14 percent and wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels at 12.3 percent.
Manufacturing industries (excluding oil refining) contributed 11.1 percent to GDP, followed by construction at 8 percent, and financial, insurance and business services at 7 percent.
Fourth-quarter performance
Quarterly data showed that real GDP grew 5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared with the same period a year earlier. Seasonally adjusted GDP rose 1.4 percent compared with the third quarter of 2025.
During the fourth quarter, oil activities grew 10.8 percent year-on-year and 1.8 percent quarter-on-quarter. Non-oil activities expanded 4.3 percent annually and 1.7 percent quarterly. Government activities, however, declined 1.2 percent year-on-year and 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Crude oil and natural gas activities recorded the highest annual growth in the fourth quarter at 12.4 percent, followed by wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels with 5.4 percent growth.
On the expenditure side in the fourth quarter, private final consumption rose 3.6 percent year-on-year, while gross fixed capital formation declined 3.1 percent annually, though it increased 1.8 percent compared with the previous quarter.
Government final consumption spending fell 8.5 percent year-on-year and 3.2 percent quarter-on-quarter. Meanwhile, exports rose 12.8 percent annually, while imports increased 1 percent year-on-year and 2.4 percent compared with the third quarter.
