Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's non-oil sector grew by 3.8% during the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to 2.2% in the same period of 2018, driven by around 5.2% rise in the private sector.
Several economic activities have attained positive growth rates during Q4-19, including the wholesale and retail trade and restaurant and hotel sector with 9.2%, social and personal services with 8.4%, finance and insurance activities with 8.1%, and building and construction with 7.7%, official data showed.
In 2019, the Saudi non-oil sector increased by 3.31%, attributed to a growth of around 3.78% and 2.2% in the private and government sectors, respectively, according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat). Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia saw a 0.3% decline in the gross domestic product (GDP) at constant prices in Q4-19, against a 4.3% growth in the same quarter of 2018.
The drop in the GDP resulted from a 5.8% decrease in the oil sector.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia's GDP at current prices inched up by 0.4% during the last three months of 2019 to record SAR 769.7 billion.
The per capita GDP reached SAR 22,290, compared to SAR 22,730 in the same period of 2018.
