Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 9.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) in Q1 2022, achieving the highest growth rate since 2011, data issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed.

The growth was fueled by oil activities that increased by 20.4% percent in Q1 2022. Non-oil activities saw a rise of 3.7 percent, with government services activities growing by 2.4 percent year-on-year (YoY).

The figures showed that the seasonally adjusted real GDP in the Kingdom grew by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year. This increase was due to the positive growth in oil activities by 2.9%, and an increase in non-oil activities by 2.5%, while government services activities decreased by 0.9%.

According to the Methodology of Flash Estimates of Quarterly GDP Definition, a flash estimate of quarterly GDP is defined as a process of estimating the quarterly national accounts conducted during a short period after the end of the reference quarter and is published 30 days after the end of the reference quarter when the data relating to the quarter is still incomplete.

Also it is the same estimates that are performed in the quarterly national accounts, but it adopts simplified assumptions about the extrapolation of some indicators (monthly or quarterly) and uses many indicators related to production, expenditures, income, price, and foreign trade.

Flash estimates are related to the quarterly GDP of the entire national economy and are presented without any details of economic sectors and activities.

Flash estimates are used by decision-makers, academics, and researchers who seek to obtain a long-term future view of the GDP data for economic activities. In addition, international organizations use seasonally adjusted data to make economic comparisons between different countries.

GASTAT is the official and only statistical reference for statistical data and information in the Kingdom.

It implements all statistical activities, technical supervision of the statistical sector, design and implementation of field surveys, conduct of statistical studies and research, data and information analysis, and all work of documenting and preserving information and statistical data that covers, documents, classifies and analyzes all activities in the Kingdom from its various sources and extracts its statistical indicators.