Statistics
• GDP: US$374.5 billion (2007).
• Main exports: Petroleum and petroleum products.
• Main imports: Machinery and equipment, food, chemicals, motor vehicles and textiles.
• Main trade partners: USA, Japan, China (PR), Korea (Rep) and UK.
Economy
Saudi Arabia has the world’s largest oil reserves (about 20% of proven deposits) and is also currently the world’s largest producer. Oil and natural gas products now account for 35% of Saudi GDP, 75% of government revenue and 85% of export income.
The non-oil economy is devoted to agriculture and newly developed industries. Agriculture produces wheat, fruit, vegetables, barley, eggs and poultry.
The industrial sector produces petrochemicals, steel, engineering and construction materials and a wide range of consumer goods. The service sector is the fastest growing part of the economy at present, with finance and business services, consultancies and property services prominent.
The rapid expansion of the Saudi economy from the 1960s onwards stalled during the late 1980s as overstretched finances and persistently low world oil prices forced the Saudi exchequer to rein in its spending plans (government debt is now nearly 100% of GDP - much of which, such as US$40 billion of loans to Iraq, may not be recovered).
This has had unfortunate consequences for the large body of foreign labour (an estimated 35% of the workforce) upon which the Saudis rely for much of their technical, managerial and menial labour. Foreigners are now barred from a range of occupations as the government seeks to tackle Saudi unemployment, which is estimated to be around 25%.
At present, the economy is picking up, growing by 4.7% in 2007, with inflation at 3.4%.
