The Saudi economy was affected by the Corona pandemic, which was 3.3% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year, due to reduce oil production, but the non-oil economy of the Kingdom grew 3.3%, to achieve recovery from the pandemic.
According to Arab Net, the General Assembly of Statistics in Saudi Arabia said in a statement. The non-oil sector has grown for the first time since the first quarter of 2020. The government services have grown 0.3% in the same period.
The GDP was generally affected by a decline in crude oil production 12% against the background of the current production cuts agreed between OPEC and other oil producers since May 2020.
According to the rapid estimates carried out by the General Authority for Statistics, the real gross domestic product (GDP) surrendered seasonally, a slight decline of 1.0% in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the fourth quarter of 2020, and this slight negative growth is due to the decline 1.5% oil activities as a result of additional reductions in the production of crude oil, which began in February, while both non-oil activities and government service activities have gained positive growth of 0.4% and 5.0%, respectively.
According to the expectations of the International Monetary Fund, Saudi GDP will grow by 2.1% this year and 4.8% next year, compared with a former fund appreciation at 4%.
A statement by the Fund said that the expected growth of Saudi non-oil domestic product will be 3.9% in 2021 and 3.6% in 2022.
The Fund reported that real GDP will shrink 0.5% in 2021, in light of the overall oil production levels under OPEC +.
The fiscal deficit is also expected to be 4.2% of this year's GDP, a slightly lower budget.
