Saudi GDP climbs nearly 12% in 2nd quarter on oil gains. Saudi Arabia\u2019s year-on-year economic growth hit nearly 12 percent for the second quarter, led by a surging oil sector, the government\u2019s statistics agency said Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Middle East\u2019s largest economy has benefited from a spike in oil prices triggered by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, and has largely resisted appeals from Western countries to raise output in order to bring prices down.<\/p>\n
Growth in the second quarter was 11.8 percent compared to the same period last year, according to initial “flash” estimates published by the General Authority for Statistics.<\/p>\n
“This dynamic growth was mainly due to the increasing in oil activities by 23.1 percent,” the agency said.<\/p>\n
Non-oil economic activities grew by 5.4 percent and government services grew by 2.2 percent compared to the second quarter of 2021, it said.<\/p>\n
The Ukraine war and the resulting rise in crude prices has been a boon to oil-producing states like Saudi Arabia, the world\u2019s biggest crude exporter whose gross domestic product is expected to grow by 7.6 percent in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n
As the war got underway, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates stressed their commitment to the OPEC+ oil alliance, which Riyadh and Moscow lead, underscoring Riyadh\u2019s and Abu Dhabi\u2019s increasing independence from long-standing ally Washington.<\/p>\n
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