Saudi GDP Falls 4.8% in Q2 2026 on Oil Slump

Saudi Arabia's real gross domestic product fell by about 4.8% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, according to flash (preliminary) estimates, as a sharp decline in oil activity outweighed steady gains in other parts of the economy.

The contraction was driven mainly by a drop of about 24.7% year-on-year in oil activities. In contrast, non-oil private-sector activities grew by roughly 0.6% year-on-year, while government activities expanded by about 0.9% over the same period.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, real GDP declined about 4.9% in the second quarter. Oil activities fell around 21.5% compared with the previous quarter, and non-oil activities edged down by about 0.5%.

Why it matters

The figures point to a familiar pattern for the Saudi economy: oil output swings can move the headline GDP number sharply, while the non-oil economy continues its more gradual path. The modest growth in non-oil private-sector and government activities reflects the broader effort to diversify economic activity beyond crude oil.

For residents and businesses in Riyadh, Jeddah and elsewhere, the non-oil trend is often the more relevant gauge of everyday commercial activity, from retail and services to construction and hospitality. The headline decline is largely a reflection of oil-market dynamics rather than a slowdown across all sectors.

These are preliminary estimates and may be revised in later releases. The data follow chain-linked volume measures, with oil, non-oil and government activities as the main aggregates, and are published under the national accounts section of the official statistics portal.

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