The non-oil segment of Saudi Arabia’s economy displayed its most rapid pace of sales growth since July of the previous year, as indicated by the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) figures for December. The index, which is an important barometer of economic health, registered a score of 57.5, as per an economic assessment report.
Despite maintaining the same level as November, the December reading of the PMI, as reported by the S&P Global and published in the Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia PMI report, marked a slight decline from the 58.4 figure observed in October.
The assessment by S&P Global underscored that the PMI continued to stay well above the neutral mark of 50. This signifies a substantial enhancement in the conditions of the Kingdom’s non-oil private sector.
Naif Al-Ghaith, the chief economist at Riyad Bank, remarked on the impressive performance of the Saudi non-oil PMI in December, attributing it to an accelerated surge in new orders. The manufacturing sector, in particular, saw a notable uptick in demand.
Furthermore, Al-Ghaith observed that the non-oil sector’s advancement was bolstered by a robust increase in both business activity and export volumes, which serves as a testament to the sector’s enduring robustness and dynamic nature.