The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its forecast for Saudi Arabia's economic growth downwards due to the ongoing petroleum production cuts by OPEC+.

The IMF now expects Saudi Arabia's economy to grow by 1.7% this year, nearly one percentage point lower than the previous forecast of 2.6%. The consequence of this decrease will continue into the next year, with Saudi Arabia's economic growth in 2025 projected to be 4.7%, which is 1.3 percentage points lower than this global lender's April estimate.

However, Saudi Arabia's economy has become less dependent on petroleum. The Ministry of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia announced earlier this year that non-petroleum revenue in 2023 had reached 50% of GDP, the highest level ever.

Sustained growth in exports, investments, and consumer spending has brought the value of the country's non-petroleum economy to 1.7 trillion Saudi riyals (approximately $453 billion USD) at constant prices.

Last year, private sector investments in Saudi Arabia increased by 57% to a record 959 billion Saudi riyals ($254 billion USD), while exports of arts and entertainment and real services saw triple-digit growth, reaching 106% and 319%, respectively, indicating the country's transformation into a global destination for tourism and entertainment.

Meanwhile, the food sector recorded a 77% growth. Transportation and storage services grew by 29%, health and education by 10.8%, trade, restaurants, and hotels by 7%, and transport and communications by 3.7%.

In April, the IMF had predicted that due to the Gaza war, attacks on ships in the Red Sea, and petroleum production cuts, Middle Eastern economies would grow more slowly than previously forecasted. This global lender now expects the economies of the Middle East and North Africa to grow by 2.7%, down from the 3.4% estimated in the IMF's October regional outlook report. However, this still shows a 1.9% increase compared to 2023.

Saudi Arabia has not only taken on a significant share of the OPEC+ petroleum production cuts but has also implemented a voluntary reduction of one million barrels per day. Given the large share of petroleum in GDP and export revenues, this affects the country's economic growth outlook.