Saudi non-oil activities grow 1.9% in Q3 2026 despite overall GDP decline

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s non-oil activities grew by 1.9 percent year-on-year in the Q3 of 2026, despite a 3.8 percent decline in the Kingdom’s real gross domestic product (GDP), according to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). The authority’s preliminary estimates showed that the overall GDP decline was driven by a 20.4 percent contraction in oil activities and a 2.7 percent decrease in government activities compared with the third quarter of 2025. Non-oil activities made a positive contribution of 1.1 percentage points to the annual GDP growth rate, while net taxes on products contributed a further 0.1 percentage points, partially offsetting the decline. In contrast, oil activities contributed a negative 4.7 percentage points, while government activities subtracted 0.4 percentage points from the annual GDP growth rate. **media[2788430]** On a quarterly basis, seasonally adjusted real GDP increased by 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter. The quarterly increase was supported by a 5.7 percent rise in oil activities and a 0.6 percent increase in non-oil activities, while government activities declined by 1.2 percent. Oil activities contributed 1 percentage point to seasonally adjusted quarterly GDP growth, followed by non-oil activities at 0.4 percentage points and net taxes on products at 0.2 percentage points. Government activities, meanwhile, contributed a negative 0.2 percentage points to quarterly GDP growth. According to GASTAT, flash GDP estimates are preliminary calculations of economic growth released shortly after the end of the reference quarter, before complete quarterly data becomes available.