Saudi Non-Oil Government Activities Grow 0.9% in Q2 2026

Non-oil government activities in Saudi Arabia grew 0.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, underscoring the continued expansion of the Kingdom's non-oil economy even as oil output weighed on headline figures.

Non-oil activities also posted 0.9% growth over the same period. Together, non-oil activities added about 0.4 percentage points to annual real GDP growth, while government activities contributed roughly 0.1 percentage points.

Overall real GDP, however, contracted by around 4.7% to 4.8% year-on-year in Q2 2026, driven mainly by a decline of about 24% to 25% in oil activities. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, government activities rose around 0.2% compared with the first quarter, while non-oil activities eased slightly by 0.4% to 0.5%, and oil activities dropped more than 21%.

Measured in current prices, the Saudi economy stood at about SAR 1.26 trillion in the quarter. The non-oil sector grew roughly 3.0% year-on-year in current prices, and the private sector expanded by around 3.1%.

Why it matters

The figures point to resilience in the parts of the economy most closely tied to jobs, business activity, and everyday services for residents and expats. Sustained non-oil and private-sector growth aligns with the broader goals of رؤية السعودية 2030 to diversify income sources beyond crude.

It is worth noting that "non-oil government activities" is a national-accounts classification used to measure economic output. It does not refer to any specific government service, fee, or procedural change, and the current data does not indicate new charges tied to this category.

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