A survey reported on Wednesday that the non-oil business activity of the Saudi Arabian private sector grew at its highest rate in 10 months in November due to the strong demand and higher employment, but the growth in the number of new orders slowed compared to the previous month.
The Riyadh Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers Index was seasonally adjusted to 58.5 in November against 60.2 in October, although it was still above 50, indicating high activity growth.
The output subindex shot to 63.7 in November to the highest level since January, and new orders had kept increasing, although at a much slower rate than in October, and domestic demand was especially robust.
The new orders subindex has dropped to a level of 64.6 in November following the spike of 68.1 in the previous month. Export orders grew in the fourth successive month, but with a slight marginal growth.
The rate of employment growth decelerated after almost a high in October, but the growth rate was solid, as companies sought to increase their workforce to satisfy the increasing demand and unsolved business.
Workloads were at a record high for the fifth consecutive month, the highest accumulation since 2019.
Riyad Bank’s Chief Economist, Naif Al-Ghaith, said that “Looking ahead, confidence is being supported by anticipated improvements in demand, active pipelines of new projects and ongoing investment activity.”
However, one of the brightest opportunities was observed with the non-oil sector companies that are confident in the future of their activity due to the projected rise in demand and new projects.
Therefore, the survey reported a positive outlook for the sector, backed by healthy demand pipelines and business investment.
Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporter in the world, is investing in the development and expansion of its non-oil industries in an attempt to lessen its dependence on hydrocarbons as part of a sweeping economic strategy referred to as Vision 2030.
