New licences drive strong Saudi industrial growth

• 105 new Saudi licences issued
• February 67% up on previous month
• 113 factories began production

Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector recorded strong growth in February, with 105 new industrial licences issued, representing a 66.7 percent month-on-month increase.

These newly awarded licences represent around SAR1 billion ($272 million) in investments and are expected to create 1,504 jobs, according to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources’ National Industrial and Mining Information Center.

An additional 113 new factories also began production during February, a 9.7 percent increase over the previous month.

Factories that began production in February attracted SAR900 million in investments and created 4,114 new jobs, highlighting the ongoing growth and expansion of the country’s industrial base, according to the ministry. 

Saudi Arabia has been enhancing its industrial manufacturing sector to bolster the country’s economic growth and diversification efforts. 

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In 2022, the National Industrial Strategy was introduced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The initiative aims to increase the number of factories to approximately 36,000 by 2035.

Despite this, the latest industrial production index for February, released by the General Authority for Statistics (GSTAT) earlier this month reported that preliminary results indicate a 0.2 percent year on year decrease in the index. This was attributed to a decline in mining and quarrying activity.

On a monthly basis, the index increased by 0.7 percent.

Analysis of the data found that the index’s sub-index of manufacturing activity increased by 0.2 percent year on year, as the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products rose 3.5 percent year on year and the manufacture of food products rose 6.3 percent over the same period.