Forbes classifies largest economy in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia tops the list
The US magazine Forbes revealed the Middle East version of the largest and strongest Arab economies, which is represented by the GDP of each country, for the largest 5 Arab countries, as Saudi Arabia remained at the top of Forbes list of the largest Arab economies for the year 2021.
Forbes expected its GDP at current prices to reach $804.9 billion by the end of this year.
This is although its economy was affected by a double crisis represented by the Coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of the oil markets, as its gross domestic product recorded $ 701.5 billion in 2020.
While Egypt fell one place to the third spot in Forbes rank this year, with expectations of its gross domestic product reaching $394.3 billion, compared to $361.8 billion in 2020, and occupying the runner-up position.
1- Saudi Arabia
The reforms implemented by Saudi Arabia within the “Kingdom’s Vision 2030” reflected positively on the economy and helped it overcome the crisis it faced last year.
The reforms included expanding the scope of digital transformation, especially concerning government and financial services.
The International Monetary Fund expects Saudi real GDP to grow by 2.4% this year, to continue the upward growth rate to 4.8% in 2022 after last year witnessed a contraction of 4.1%,
The real non-oil GDP growth rate recovered in the second half of 2020.
There are expectations that the per capita GDP in Saudi Arabia will increase by 12.5% to reach $22.7 thousand this year, compared to $20.2 thousand during the past year.
However, it remains below the level of per capita output before the pandemic, which amounted to $23.3 thousand in 2019, knowing that the population is currently more than 35 million people.
The latest data from the General Authority for Statistics indicate that unemployment among Saudi citizens decreased to 11.7% in the first quarter of this year, which is 0.1% lower than its level in the same first quarter of last year.
The annual inflation rate increased in May by 5.7% compared to the same month last year, while it reached 5.3% during last April, and inflation still reflects the increase in value-added tax from 5% to 15%, which began to be applied in July 2020.
Saudi Arabia announced a financial package to support the private sector worth 70 billion Saudi riyals ($18.7 billion), or 2.7 percent of GDP, on March 20, 2020.