Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) rose by 10.3% in November 2021, data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed.
The annual growth is the second highest in the past three years, which demonstrates the improvement in industrial production in three sub-sectors, namely, mining and quarries, manufacturing, and electricity and gas supply.
It continued to show positive growth rates for the seventh month in a row during 2021.
The data released underscored the relative importance of the mining and quarrying sector that rose by 74.5%, while indicators of the manufacturing and electricity and gas supply sectors recorded growth rates of 22.6% and 2.9%, respectively.
In November 2021 mining and quarrying grew by 10.4% compared to November 2020, manufacturing grew by 9.7% and electricity and gas supplies by 11.9%.
The IPI is an economic indicator that reflects the relative changes of the volume of industrial output. It is calculated based on the industrial production survey, and its data is based on the International Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities.
Meanwhile, Kingdom recently recorded great leaps in the industrial sector, in a clear indication of its plans to develop the sector by providing all facilities and procedures that contribute to expanding the scope of factories in the country.
The total value of investments in the sector has exceeded SAR1.336 trillion ($356 billion).
According to the first copy of the monthly bulletin released by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources on Industry and Mining for November 2021, the number of mining licenses in force in the sector amounted to 1,913, of which 540 were issued in 2021.
The bulletin underlines the major indicators of the movement of industrial and mining activity in the Kingdom and provides figures, information and statistics on the two sectors, in addition to the most important services provided to shed light on the investment opportunities offered by the industrial and mining sectors.
The bulletin revealed the change in the total investment volume of the industrial sector that stood at SAR1.336 trillion after adding SAR78.5 billion as new investments between early 2021 and late November 2021.
It also showed the investment indicator of factories that embarked on production between January and November 2021 with SAR72.5 billion, in addition to the number of new licenses issued in the first 11 months of 2021, which totaled 873. The same period also marked the start of production at 731 new factories.
