Saudi economy contracted by 4.1% in 2020

Published 10 Feb,2021 via Arab News - Economy - The Saudi economy contracted by 4.1 percent in 2020, hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, lower crude prices and output cuts, according to data published by the General Authority for Statistics on Wednesday.

The economy of the world’s top oil exporter contracted by 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same period a year earlier, but grew 2.8 percent on a quarterly basis, according to preliminary estimates.

Saudi Arabia will publish final gross domestic product (GDP) data on March 16, the authority said.

The Kingdom announced its budget for 2021 in December, with spending projected at SR990 billion ($264 billion) and revenue projected to rise by 10.3 percent to SR849 billion.

The budget deficit is projected to narrow to SR141 billion, or 4.9 percent of economic output, compared to nearly SR300 billion, or 12 percent of the Kingdom’s GDP, this year.

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