Saudi Industrial Output Growth Nears 3-Year High in November on Oil Output

Saudi industrial production growth reached 10.3% in November from a year ago, nearing the three-year high level it hit in June, on higher oil production output, Gastat said. This expansion was under last June’s figure, when growth stood at 11.9%. Industrial production continued its positive trend for the seventh consecutive month. This reversed the contractions experienced in 2020, which were induced by COVID-19.

The Industrial Production Index, or IPI, is now back to pre-pandemic levels, the Kingdom’s official statistics authority revealed. Production in the mining and quarrying sub-sector — which has a weight of 74.5% of the index — expanded by a yearly rate of 10.4% in November. This is the highest level of the sub-index since October 2019.

Moreover, Saudi manufacturing output was 9.7% higher from a year earlier, reaching the largest reading since February 2020. Similarly, electricity and gas supplies surged by 11.9%, which corresponded to the second consecutive expansion. Manufacturing and ‘electricity and gas supplies’ make up 22.6% and 2.9%, respectively, of IPI. In monthly terms, industrial production rose by 2% in November, driven by a 6% expansion in manufacturing. Mining and quarrying ticked up by 1.2% from a month ago while electricity and gas supplies narrowed by 9.6%.