Saudi Arabia Ranks First Among G20 Countries For PMI Performance

According to a recent report by the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning for the fourth quarter of 2023, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has ranked first among the G20 countries for the highest performance in the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in December.

While the performance of most G20 countries declined in that period because of weak global demand, high financing costs and excess inventory in some sectors, there was strong domestic demand in the Kingdom and the non-oil private sector performed positively.

The positive performance in this period was reflected in the purchasing manager’s indices and the labour market. The report also confirmed that governmental  measures succeeded in limiting price inflation last year; the average consumer price index in the Kingdom recorded an increase of only 2.3% from 2022.

Unemployment rates declined in the last quarter of 2023 from 8% to 7.7%, and following the implementation of financial policies pertaining specifically to Vision 2030, public revenue increased by 12% to reach SAR 358 billion (USD 95.4 billion). Meanwhile, state expenditure rose by 8.6% to reach SAR 395 billion (USD 105.3 billion), and thus the general budget recorded a financial deficit of SAR 37 billion (USD 9.9 billion).