Saudi GDP Falls 4.8% in Q2 2026 as Oil Activity Drops

Saudi Arabia's real gross domestic product contracted 4.8% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, reversing growth seen in earlier quarters, according to flash estimates released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The decline was driven mainly by a sharp 24.7% drop in oil activities compared with the same period a year earlier. Oil activities alone subtracted 5.4 percentage points from headline growth during the quarter.

In contrast, the non-oil economy continued to expand. Non-oil activities grew 0.6% year-on-year in Q2 2026, contributing a positive 0.4 percentage points to overall GDP. Government activities also rose 0.9% year-on-year over the same period.

Quarter-on-quarter picture

On a seasonally adjusted basis, real GDP fell 4.9% compared with the previous quarter. Oil activities declined 21.5% quarter-on-quarter, while non-oil activities slipped 0.5% on the same basis, even as they posted modest annual growth.

For residents and businesses across Riyadh, Jeddah and beyond, the figures underline a familiar pattern: overall output remains sensitive to swings in oil activity, while the broader non-oil sector — closely tied to jobs, services and everyday commerce — continues its steady, if slower, expansion. The continued growth in non-oil and government activities reflects the ongoing push to diversify the economy under national development goals.

As flash estimates, these numbers are preliminary and may be revised when GASTAT publishes its detailed quarterly data.

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