Weekly Market Brief – 3/18/2022

Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments

• Saudi Arabia’s economy grew 6.7 percent YoY (+1.6 percent QoQ) in Q4 2021, according to the General Authority of Statistics’ (GAStat) full GDP report. In the final quarter of 2021, oil activity rose 10.9 percent while non-oil activity rose 5.1 percent. Top growing sectors were related to crude oil & natural gas extraction (+10.4 percent YoY) as well as petroleum refining (+15.8 percent). Other top sectors were non-oil mining & quarrying (+11.5 percent), social & community services (+9.4 percent), and manufacturing (+8.7 percent).

 

• Consumer prices in Saudi Arabia rose 1.6 percent YoY in February due to higher prices in transport (+4.3 percent) and food & beverages (+2.4 percent), according GAStat. Compared to last month, consumer prices grew by 0.3 percent.

 

• Wholesale prices in Saudi Arabia rose 11.5 percent YoY in February due to large increases in the price of basic chemicals (+60.3 percent) and refined petroleum products (+21.4 percent). Compared to January, wholesale prices rose 0.8 percent and were driven higher by general-purpose machinery (+3.9 percent) and food products (+1.5 percent).