Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product advanced 2.59 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018, following a 2.47 percent expansion in the previous period. It was the highest growth rate since the last quarter of 2017, when the economy contracted by 1.18 percent. Net foreign demand contributed positively to growth, as exports jumped 12.44 percent (vs 8.01% in Q3) and imports went up at a softer 0.09 percent (vs 7.18% in Q3) while household consumption (0.12% vs 1.63%) slowed. On the other hand, government expenditure (-15.69% vs 7.55% in Q3) and fixed investment (-4.81% vs 8.87%) contracted. On the production side, output growth accelerated mainly for: mining and quarrying (6.41% vs 4.19%); manufacturing (3.52%t vs 1.66%). Meantime, output growth eased mainly for: electricity, gas, and water (2.36% vs 4.41%), transport, storage & information and communication (3.64% vs 4.85%). For 2018 as a whole, the economy grew 2.21 percent, compared to a 0.74 percent contraction in 2017. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Saudi Arabia averaged 4.06 percent from 1969 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 24.20 percent in the fourth quarter of 1973 and a record low of -20.70 percent in the fourth quarter of 1982.
GDP Annual Growth Rate in Saudi Arabia is expected to be 2.30 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate GDP Annual Growth Rate in Saudi Arabia to stand at 2.10 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Saudi Arabia GDP Annual Growth Rate is projected to trend around 3.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.