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Saudi Cybersecurity Market Tops $4.3 Billion in 2025

Employees working on computers (National Cybersecurity Authority). 
Employees working on computers (National Cybersecurity Authority). 
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Saudi Cybersecurity Market Tops $4.3 Billion in 2025

Employees working on computers (National Cybersecurity Authority). 
Employees working on computers (National Cybersecurity Authority). 

Saudi Arabia’s cybersecurity market reached SAR 16.3 billion ($4.3 billion) in 2025, recording a compound annual growth rate of 10.7% over the past three years, according to a new report by the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA).

Government spending on cybersecurity products and services totaled SAR 5.1 billion, accounting for 31% of the market, while private sector expenditure reached SAR 11.2 billion, representing 69%.

The figures were released in the NCA’s report, Key Economic Indicators in Saudi Arabia’s Cybersecurity Sector 2026, which examines market size, the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product, workforce trends and other measures of growth.

Contribution to GDP

The cybersecurity sector contributed approximately SAR 20 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP at current prices in 2025, registering a compound annual growth rate of 13.2%, the authority reported.

Of that amount, SAR 9.7 billion represented the direct contribution of cybersecurity products and service providers, while indirect contributions totaled SAR 10.3 billion.

The sector accounted for 0.42% of the Kingdom’s overall GDP and 0.71% of non-oil GDP.

The cybersecurity workforce exceeded 22,000 specialists last year, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 5.9%.

The report linked this expansion to specialized training initiatives and programs designed to meet the needs of vital sectors and support economic and social development.

Women accounted for 33% of cybersecurity professionals in Saudi Arabia, surpassing the global participation rate of approximately 22%.

Spending on products and services

Cybersecurity products accounted for 51% of total market spending, valued at SAR 8.3 billion, while services represented 49%, or SAR 7.9 billion.

The report identified key areas of spending, including endpoint security and management, cybersecurity systems integration, network security, data security and security operations solutions.

Public-private cooperation

The NCA highlighted efforts to strengthen competitiveness, encourage investment and innovation, and promote cooperation between the public and private sectors as key drivers of market growth.

The study classified cybersecurity offerings into 100 products and services, drawing on internationally recognized methodologies, standards and practices.

The NCA is Saudi Arabia’s designated cybersecurity authority and national reference body, tasked with protecting the Kingdom’s vital interests, national security, critical infrastructure, priority sectors, and government services and activities.

Its responsibilities also include stimulating industry growth, promoting innovation and investment, conducting research and development, and issuing periodic reports on cybersecurity at the national and sectoral levels.

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Al-Jadaan: Saudi Investments in Alternative Routes Ensure Continuity of Energy Supplies and Trade

General view of the Kingdom Tower in downtown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS
General view of the Kingdom Tower in downtown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS
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Al-Jadaan: Saudi Investments in Alternative Routes Ensure Continuity of Energy Supplies and Trade

General view of the Kingdom Tower in downtown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS
General view of the Kingdom Tower in downtown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said the Kingdom’s investments in alternative routes have helped ensure the continuity of energy supplies and trade flows amid uncertainty.

He stressed that strengthening economic resilience requires diversifying sources of economic strength, protecting the foundations of growth, and maintaining the capacity to deal with recurring and prolonged disruptions.

Speaking at the third meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors under the US presidency, held Thursday in Bangkok, Al-Jadaan said the global economy had demonstrated an ability to adapt to repeated disruptions. He explained that resilience is fundamental to this adaptability, but strengthening it requires an understanding of its cost, how it can be developed, and how it should be financed.

He said the success of economic policies in confronting shocks is not limited to mitigating the impact of current challenges. It also depends on preserving the ability to support future ambitions and sustain the long-term path of economic transformation, while maintaining sufficient buffers to deal with any new developments that may arise.

Al-Jadaan participates in one of the sessions at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bangkok (IMF)

The Finance Minister stressed that fiscal policies must protect the foundations of growth, highlighting the importance of effective international cooperation in achieving economic stability.

He said access to reliable and affordable energy, along with the uninterrupted flow of essential goods, helps contain price pressures and ease the burden on national budgets, thereby strengthening countries’ ability to navigate uncertainty.

In this context, Al-Jadaan said the Kingdom, through its investments in alternative routes, has helped ensure the continuity of energy supplies and trade flows amid disruptions. This underscores the importance of infrastructure and transportation and supply routes in strengthening economies’ ability to withstand shocks and limiting their impact on markets and the flow of essential goods.

Managing Shocks and Strengthening Resilience

Discussing ways to enhance economic resilience, Al-Jadaan said dealing with prolonged shocks depends not only on the size of the buffers available to countries, but also on how these buffers are managed over time, while preserving sufficient capacity to respond to future developments.

He noted that strengthening economic resilience requires reducing exposure to risks through economic diversification, reinforcing energy and food security, and developing more resilient supply chains and infrastructure. These priorities have become increasingly important amid recurring disruptions affecting trade flows, the availability of essential goods, and the cost of obtaining them.

Al-Jadaan also addressed artificial intelligence, noting that it has evolved beyond a purely technological issue to become part of a broader agenda aimed at achieving sustainable growth and strengthening economic resilience. This reflects the expanding scope of policies required to build economies capable of adapting to change while preserving opportunities for long-term growth and transformation.

The Role of International Financial Institutions

The Finance Minister emphasized the important role played by multilateral financial institutions in helping economies that are most vulnerable to risk cope with financing pressures through financial and technical support programs and policy advice, thereby strengthening their ability to withstand shocks and maintain economic stability.

Al-Jadaan concluded his participation in the third meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, held on the sidelines of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Thailand.

He met with a number of officials, heads of international financial institutions, and representatives of credit rating agencies. The meetings addressed developments in the global economy and policies aimed at supporting its stability, while also reviewing developments and reforms in the Saudi economy as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to strengthen its presence in international economic and financial dialogue.

Business

Bank of England's Breeden: Cost-cutting by Firms Helping Central Bank

FILE PHOTO: Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, Sarah Breeden during the Bank of England financial stability report press conference, at the Bank of England, London. Picture date: Tuesday July 7, 2026. Doug Peters/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, Sarah Breeden during the Bank of England financial stability report press conference, at the Bank of England, London. Picture date: Tuesday July 7, 2026. Doug Peters/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Bank of England's Breeden: Cost-cutting by Firms Helping Central Bank

FILE PHOTO: Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, Sarah Breeden during the Bank of England financial stability report press conference, at the Bank of England, London. Picture date: Tuesday July 7, 2026. Doug Peters/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, Sarah Breeden during the Bank of England financial stability report press conference, at the Bank of England, London. Picture date: Tuesday July 7, 2026. Doug Peters/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said on Thursday that cost-cutting by UK companies in response to the energy price shock caused by the Iran war would make it easier for the central bank to contain inflation.

"What's really different now, relative to when we had the last energy shock in 2022, is that people aren't looking to push costs through," Breeden said in an interview with ⁠CNBC television.

"There's a desire ⁠to absorb the shock rather than just pass it on, which makes our job as monetary policymakers a bit easier in these uncertain times,” Reuters quoted her as saying

The comments about cost-cutting by companies echoed those made by BoE Governor Andrew ⁠Bailey earlier this week.

Breeden has voted with the majority of the Monetary Policy Committee to keep borrowing costs on hold since the start of the Iran war but said in September that she might change her stance if the energy price shock feeds through into broader inflation.

Investors are pricing a quarter-point rate hike by the BoE next month as a ⁠near ⁠certainty.

Breeden, in Bangkok for the semi-annual International Monetary Fund meetings, also told CNBC she hoped wages would not rise sharply as they did in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine due to weakness in the labor market now.

Earlier on Thursday, BoE Chief Economist Huw Pill said a rate hike by the central bank should not be interpreted by investors as the start of a long series of increases.

Business

IMF Expects Middle East Economies to Rebound to 6.6% Growth in 2027

Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attends a press conference at the IMF/World Bank 2026 Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., US, April 16, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attends a press conference at the IMF/World Bank 2026 Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., US, April 16, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
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IMF Expects Middle East Economies to Rebound to 6.6% Growth in 2027

Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attends a press conference at the IMF/World Bank 2026 Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., US, April 16, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attends a press conference at the IMF/World Bank 2026 Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., US, April 16, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

The International Monetary Fund expects the economies of the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan to rebound to growth of 6.6 percent in 2027, following a projected contraction of 1.3 percent this year, amid the economic fallout from the regional war and disruptions to energy production and trade, which have affected countries across the region to varying degrees.

Jihad Azour, the IMF's director for the Middle East and Central Asia, said economies directly affected by the conflict are facing severe pressures, while other economies in the region, along with most countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, have shown greater resilience.

He explained that the path of the recovery will depend largely on how quickly energy production and trade return to normal and on countries’ ability to maintain macroeconomic stability.

The forecasts come after the economies of the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan grew by 3.3 percent in 2025, illustrating the scale of the shock expected this year before a strong rebound next year.

Azour stressed, however, that the overall projections mask significant disparities among the region’s economies and that the recovery will not be uniform across countries.

Oil Exporters and Importers

Azour said oil-exporting countries directly affected by disruptions to energy production and trade will experience a marked contraction in 2026, although higher oil prices will provide some support to their fiscal and external positions.

A gradual recovery in production and trade is expected to drive a strong rebound in GDP growth in 2027, although output levels will remain below the trajectory projected before the outbreak of the conflict.

By contrast, economic activity in the region’s oil-importing countries has remained relatively resilient during 2026 and is expected to continue doing so. Workers’ remittances, tourism revenues, favorable financial conditions and government support have helped cushion the immediate impact of the shock, although the policy space available to governments is narrowing.

The IMF expects inflation in these economies to rise moderately in 2026 before gradually easing thereafter.

The Chinese-flagged container shipping vessel Hui Fa transits the Gulf of Oman on October 13, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Lower Inventories, Greater Risks

Azour noted that the impact of the energy shock has been less severe than initial estimates suggested, thanks to surpluses accumulated before the war, production by non-Gulf countries, alternative transportation routes, adjustments in demand and drawdowns from inventories.

He cautioned, however, that these factors have provided time for adjustment but are not sustainable resources. Available inventories have declined and spare production capacity has narrowed, leaving markets more vulnerable to larger price increases should disruptions recur.

Azour identified a prolonged war as the most significant risk to the outlook, warning that further disruptions to energy production, shipping routes or critical infrastructure would weaken economic activity among Gulf oil exporters, increase inflationary pressures and exacerbate fiscal and external strains across the region.

He also warned that tighter global financial conditions could weaken demand, raise borrowing costs and increase pressure on currencies, particularly in economies with substantial sovereign debt-financing needs or a heavy reliance on external financing.

Low-income and fragile economies remain the most vulnerable to these risks because of their dependence on food imports and limited fiscal space, at a time when official development assistance is also declining.

Call for Targeted Support and Rebuilding Fiscal Buffers

Azour urged policymakers to prioritize price stability and fiscal sustainability, using monetary policy as the first line of defense when inflationary pressures emerge, complemented by prudent fiscal policy, particularly in countries with limited financial resources.

He stressed the importance of rebuilding fiscal buffers to withstand future shocks by strengthening domestic revenues, improving spending efficiency and developing stronger fiscal frameworks. He cautioned against broad-based subsidies, favoring instead temporary and targeted cash assistance for the groups most affected, helping keep the cost of intervention within budgetary limits.

Over the longer term, Azour emphasized the importance of strong institutions, credible monetary frameworks and central bank independence, alongside greater trade diversification, deeper regional integration and a stronger capacity to adopt new technologies, including artificial intelligence, to boost productivity and support growth.

Azour noted that the IMF has approved approximately $48 billion in financing for countries in the region since 2020. During fiscal year 2026, it also carried out around 437 technical assistance and capacity-building projects in 31 countries.

The IMF is scheduled to release its full regional report in Dubai on October 22, providing a more detailed assessment of economic developments and policy priorities.