Saudi’s PIF exceeds Vision 2030 target, while GDP lags

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has exceeded its 2024 targets for assets under management by 7%, but the kingdom fell short of other goals under its Vision 2030 plan. 

PIF assets reached $940 billion as of 2024 under the kingdom’s economic transformation agenda, exceeding the annual target of $880 billion. The sovereign wealth fund is expected to reach $2.67 trillion by the end of the decade. 

Unemployment rate among Saudi locals reduced to 7%, surpassing the 2024 target of 7.8% and reaching the kingdom’s 2030 goal six years early, the Vision 2030 Annual Report 2024 showed. Female labour force participation stood at 33.5%, shy of its 2024 target of 35.9%. 

Meanwhile, Saudi home ownership target of 64% for 2024 surpassed last year. 

Saudi Arabia’s GDP reached $937 billion in 2024, rising 1.3% on the previous year, but fell behind last year’s target of $955.76 billion.

Non-oil GDP rose 3.9% year-on-year in 2024 to reach $680.9 billion but trailed its 2024 target of $694.7 billion. Private sector contribution to GDP, however, exceeded the 2024 target of 46% by one percentage point.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows reached $25.6 billion in 2023, but dipped to $20.69 billion in 2024, falling short of its $29 billion target for the year.

As of 2024, 571 companies have established a regional HQ in the kingdom, surpassing the 2030 target of 500 firms.    

S&P Global Ratings revised Saudi’s long-term foreign and local currency rating to 'A+' from 'A' in March, stating that the ‘ongoing social and economic transformation in Saudi Arabia is underpinned by improving governance effectiveness and institutional settings, including deepening domestic capital markets’.

However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised the kingdom’s economic growth forecast in its April report whose forecasts included the impact of tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April 2 as well as the initial responses from other countries.

IMF’s April World Economic Outlook report lowered the kingdom’s 2025 GDP forecast to 3%, down 0.3% from its January projection. It expects the country to grow 3.7% next year, down from its previous forecast of 4.1%.