Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index rises 6.8% in January 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index rose 6.8 percent year-on-year in January, driven by high production in mining and quarrying, and manufacturing activities, according to the latest report released by the General Authority for Statistics.

IPI is an economic indicator that reflects the relative changes in the volume of industrial output in the Kingdom, and it is calculated based on the industrial production survey.

The GASTAT report noted that mining and quarrying grew by 3 percent in January, compared to the same month of the previous year.

Mining and quarrying activities witnessed a surge in January, as Saudi Arabia increased its oil production to more than 10 million barrels per day. 

According to the report, manufacturing activities in the Kingdom increased by 19.2 percent year-on-year in January 2023, while electricity and gas supplies decreased by 3.4 percent.

The report said that the relative weights of the mining and quarrying, manufacturing and electricity and gas supply sectors in the IPI are 74.5 percent, 22.6 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.   

“During 2022, the industrial production index recorded positive growth rates that peaked in April 2022, the annual growth rates began to gradually decrease from month to another since May 2022, to recorded a 6.8 percent increase in January 2023,” said GASTAT in the report.  

Even though the Kingdom’s IPI is still showing positive trends, its growth has slowed down for the ninth month in a row from a 26.7 year-on-year growth recorded in April 2022. 

Compared to December 2022, overall IPI increased by 0.1 percent due to the rise in the mining and quarrying sector which grew by 0.2 percent, and the manufacturing sector recorded 0.6 percent growth.  

Electricity and gas supplies decreased by 9 percent in January 2022 compared to December 2022. 

In February, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, in its monthly report, revealed that industrial investments in Saudi Arabia rose SR32.03 billion ($8.54 billion) in 2022 as the Kingdom continues to steadily diversify its economy in line with the goals outlined in Vision 2030.  

According to the report, the total volume of industrial investments in Saudi Arabia until December 2022 stood at SR1.428 trillion. 

The ministry revealed that from January 2022 to December 2022, 1,023 factories started operations, with investments amounting to SR28.79 billion, while 964 industrial licenses were issued.