Official data indicated that Saudi Arabia’s industrial production index surged to 115 in January, up 10.4 percent from the previous year, driven by higher crude output and robust mining activity.
The latest report released by the General Authority for Statistics reported that the annual increase was primarily boosted by a 13.3 percent hike in the mining and quarrying sub-index, which includes oil production.
Saudi Arabia increased crude oil production to 10.1 million barrels per day in January compared with 8.9 million barrels per day in January 2014, aiding in the rise in the mining and quarrying sub-index and the overall growth in industrial activity.
The most recent IPI values highlight the sustained progress of the industrial sector of the Kingdom as Saudi Arabia continues to seek economic diversification as part of its Vision 2030 initiative.
The manufacturing industry, which is one of the most important sectors of economic diversification of the Kingdom, also played an advantageous role in the annual growth. The manufacturing sub-index rose by 6.8 percent compared to January of the previous year.
This was supported by high performances in the production of chemicals and chemical products, which improved by 10.6 percent, and the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products, which increased by 9.1 percent. The food products industry also recorded an average growth of 9.1 percent per annum.
However, among the major sectors, water supply, sewerage, and waste management turned out to be the fastest in their annual growth, showing a growth of 11.7 percent.
Although there was an excellent performance on a year-on-year basis, the IPI had a slight contraction at the monthly level, which fell by 0.5 percent relative to December 2025. This decline was driven by a 1.4 percent drop in the manufacturing sub-index from the previous month.
The slowdown of manufacturing in the month was mainly based on the decline in the same areas that contributed to its annual rise, with coke and petroleum products falling by 1.1 percent and chemicals falling by 1.2 percent.
In a breakdown of the key economic activities, it is revealed that the index of oil activities increased by 12.5 percent per annum, whereas the index of non-oil activities also registered a good increase of 5.3 percent.
On a monthly basis, the two indices recorded slight losses, with the oil activities recording a drop of 0.1 percent and non-oil activities declining by 1.5 percent.
The electricity, gas, and air conditioning supply sub-index was the only significant industry that registered an annual decline, reducing by 1.3 percent relative to January 2025.
