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Economy - overview:
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Saudi Arabia has an oil-based
economy with strong government controls over major
economic activities. It possesses about 20% of the
world's proven petroleum reserves, ranks as the
largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading
role in OPEC. The petroleum sector accounts for
roughly 80% of budget revenues, 45% of GDP, and
90% of export earnings. Saudi Arabia is
encouraging the growth of the private sector in
order to diversify its economy and to employ more
Saudi nationals. Diversification efforts are
focusing on power generation, telecommunications,
natural gas exploration, and petrochemical
sectors. Roughly 5.5 million foreign workers play
an important role in the Saudi economy,
particularly in the oil and service sectors, while
Riyadh is struggling to reduce unemployment among
its own nationals. Saudi officials are
particularly focused on employing its large youth
population, which generally lacks the education
and technical skills the private sector needs.
Riyadh has substantially boosted spending on job
training and education, most recently with the
opening of the King Abdallah University of Science
and Technology - Saudi Arabia's first
co-educational university. As part of its effort
to attract foreign investment, Saudi Arabia
acceded to the WTO in December 2005 after many
years of negotiations. The government has begun
establishing six "economic cities" in
different regions of the country to promote
economic development. Five years of high oil
prices during 2004-08 gave the Kingdom ample
financial reserves to manage the impact of the
global financial crisis, but tight international
credit, falling oil prices, and the global
economic slowdown reduced Saudi economic growth in
2009, prompting the postponement of some economic
development projects. Saudi authorities supported
the banking sector during the crisis by making
direct capital injections into banks, reducing
rates, and publicly affirming the government's
guarantee of bank deposits.
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GDP (purchasing power
parity):
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$590.9 billion (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 23
$590.3 billion (2008 est.)
$565.9 billion (2007 est.)
note: data
are in 2009 US dollars
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GDP (official exchange rate):
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$376.3 billion (2009 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate:
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0.1% (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 115
4.3% (2008 est.)
2% (2007 est.)
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GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$23,300 (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 55
$23,700 (2008 est.)
$23,100 (2007 est.)
note: data
are in 2009 US dollars
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 2.9%
industry: 59.7%
services: 37.4%
(2009 est.)
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Labor force:
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7.193 million
country
comparison to the world: 62
note: about
80% of the labor force is non-national (2009 est.)
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 6.7%
industry: 21.4%
services: 71.9%
(2005 est.)
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Unemployment rate:
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10.5% (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 121
9.8% (2008 est.)
note: data
are for Saudi males only (local bank estimates;
some estimates range as high as 25%)
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Population below poverty
line:
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NA%
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Household income or
consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
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Investment (gross fixed):
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26.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 36 |
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Budget:
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revenues: $135.9
billion
expenditures: $159
billion (2009 est.)
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Public debt:
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22.6% of GDP (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 101
18.7% of GDP (2008 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer
prices):
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5.1% (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 145
9.9% (2008 est.)
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Central bank discount rate:
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2.5% (31 December 2008)
NA% (31 December 2007)
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Commercial bank prime
lending rate:
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NA%
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Stock of narrow money:
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$139.2 billion (31 December
2009)
$113.6 billion (31 December
2008)
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Stock of broad money:
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$277.1 billion (31 December
2009 est.)
$250 billion (31 December 2008
est.)
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Stock of domestic credit:
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$2.248 billion (31 December
2009)
country
comparison to the world: 119
$18.99 billion (31 December
2008)
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Market value of publicly
traded shares:
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$318.7 billion (31 December
2009)
country
comparison to the world: 24
$246.3 billion (31 December
2008)
$515.1 billion (31 December
2007)
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Agriculture - products:
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wheat, barley, tomatoes,
melons, dates, citrus; mutton, chickens, eggs,
milk
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Industries:
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crude oil production, petroleum
refining, basic petrochemicals, ammonia,
industrial gases, sodium hydroxide (caustic soda),
cement, fertilizer, plastics, metals, commercial
ship repair, commercial aircraft repair,
construction
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Industrial production growth
rate:
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-2.8% (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 96 |
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Electricity - production:
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179.1 billion kWh (2007 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 21 |
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Electricity - consumption:
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165.1 billion kWh (2007 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 20 |
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Electricity - exports:
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0 kWh (2008 est.)
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Electricity - imports:
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0 kWh (2008 est.)
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Oil - production:
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9.764 million bbl/day (2009
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 2 |
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Oil - consumption:
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2.43 million bbl/day (2009
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 9 |
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Oil - exports:
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8.728 million bbl/day (2007
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 1 |
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Oil - imports:
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79,250 bbl/day (2007 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 74 |
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Oil - proved reserves:
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264.6 billion bbl (1 January
2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 1 |
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Natural gas - production:
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77.1 billion cu m (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 10 |
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Natural gas - consumption:
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77.1 billion cu m (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 11 |
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Natural gas - exports:
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0 cu m (2008 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 130 |
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Natural gas - imports:
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0 cu m (2008 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 135 |
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Natural gas - proved
reserves:
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7.461 trillion cu m (1 January
2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 5 |
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Current account balance:
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$22.77 billion (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 15
$132.3 billion (2008 est.)
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Exports:
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$192.3 billion (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 20
$313.5 billion (2008 est.)
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Exports - commodities:
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petroleum and petroleum
products 90%
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Exports - partners:
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Japan 15.33%, South Korea
12.71%, US 12.2%, China 10.38%, India 7.12%,
Taiwan 4.54%, Singapore 4.25% (2009)
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Imports:
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$87.1 billion (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 31
$101.5 billion (2008 est.)
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Imports - commodities:
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machinery and equipment,
foodstuffs, chemicals, motor vehicles, textiles
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Imports - partners:
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US 12.32%, China 12.06%,
Germany 7.67%, Japan 6.15%, South Korea 5.32%,
India 4.99%, UK 4.72%, France 4.05% (2009)
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Reserves of foreign exchange
and gold:
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$410.1 billion (31 December
2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 4
$442.7 billion (31 December
2008 est.)
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Debt - external:
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$72.77 billion (31 December
2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 41
$79.16 billion (31 December
2008 est.)
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Stock of direct foreign
investment - at home:
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$167 billion (31 December 2009
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 23
$131.5 billion (31 December
2008 est.)
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Stock of direct foreign
investment - abroad:
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$11.41 billion (31 December
2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 47
$4.886 billion (31 December
2008 est.)
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Exchange rates:
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Saudi riyals (SAR) per US
dollar - 3.75 (2009), 3.75 (2008), 3.745 (2007),
3.745 (2006), 3.747 (2005)
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