DUBAI (Reuters – Saudi Arabia’s Gross Domestic Product grew 9.9% during the first quarter. This is the fastest growth in a decade, and it was more than a flash estimation last month that stood at 9.6%. Official data were released on Tuesday.

Monica Malik chief economist of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank said that this was the largest expansion in the last quarter 2011 and the key factor behind it.

According to Statistics General Authority, “This is because of the 20.3% increase in oil activities.”

On a seasonally adjusted basis, GDP growth was 2.6% more than the fourth quarter. Oil activity was up 2.9% quarterly.

The highest GDP contributor was crude petroleum and other activities at 32.4% according to statistics.

The quarter before was characterized by a 3.7% increase in non-oil activity, which is 0.9% more than the prior quarter. While government activity was up 2.4% over the previous quarter, it declined 0.9% in comparison to the fourth quarter.

According to the General Authority for Statistics, “All economic activities experienced positive annual growth rates during the first quarter 2022.”

The GDP per capita was 26,961 rupees (7,187 dollars) for the first quarter 2022. This is 33.8% more than the quarter 2021.

Malik stated that “the underlying data continues to point towards a healthy pace for expansion in non-oil sectors.”

Due to the lack of oil resources and high oil prices, Saudi Arabia finds itself in a strong position.

Saudi Arabia and the other OPEC+ countries agreed to push forward oil production to compensate for Russian output loss due to Western sanctions.

The International Monetary Fund raised Saudi Arabia’s outlook for economic growth to 7.6% in 2022 in April. This was based on higher oil prices and output, up from 3.2% 2021.

($1 = 3.7511 riyals)