Reuters :
The Saudi Arabian economy expanded 11.8% in the second quarter, maintaining the fastest growth rate since 2011 buoyed by higher oil prices and production.
Non-oil gross domestic product — the engine of job creation — gained 5.4% while the oil economy grew 23.1% compared to last year, Bloomberg reported quoting the General Authority for Statistics on Sunday.
This record GDP growth is a result of the rise in energy prices and the war in Ukraine, which altered global patterns of trade, production, and consumption.
Oil is trading more than 40% higher than at the start of the year, and surged further immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia has seen revenue soar on the back of $100 oil and rising production.
Oil gross domestic product is expected to grow 19% this year, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Saudi Arabia’s citizen unemployment rate also fell to the lowest since 2008 as economic growth surged on the back of higher oil revenue.
