Saudi FDI inflows rise 16% quarter-on-quarter

Net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Saudi Arabia reached SAR13.1bn($3.49bn) in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 16 per cent from SAR11.4bn($3.04bn) in the third quarter, government data showed on Thursday.

The kingdom hopes to attract $100bn in FDI by 2030 to boost non-oil gross domestic product as part of a wider strategy by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the economy away from its reliance on crude oil exports.

FDI has lagged behind those targets, with the new data bringing total net inflows in 2023 to $11.4bn.

However, Saudi Arabia’s economy is diversifying at a rapid pace with the country achieving a milestone in 2023.

The non-oil sector activities comprised 50 per cent of the country’s real GDP in 2023.

The non-oil economy, valued at SAR1.7tn (approximately $453bn) at constant prices, has been buoyed by growth in investment, consumer spending, and exports.

Private-sector investment, in particular, has surged by 57 per cent over the past two years, reaching a record high of SAR959bn ($254bn) in 2023.

FDI outflows

According to data released by the General Authority for Statistics, the value of FDI outflows from the kingdom’s economy was SAR6bn, representing an increase of 17.6 per cent compared to the third quarter of the same year, which amounted to SAR5bn.

Historical data issued by the statistics authority in 2023 showed that FDI inflow into the kingdom in 2015 amounted to SAR64bn, in 2016 it was SAR111bn, in 2017 it was SAR27bn, in 2018 it was SAR71bn, in 2019 it was SAR32bn, in 2020 it was SAR30bn, in 2021 it was SAR100bn, and in 2022 it was SAR122bn, reported the SPA.