MGI is publishing this report on Saudi Arabia at a time of change in the Kingdom. After a surge in prosperity over the past decade, the economy is at a transition point. We see a real opportunity for the Kingdom to inject new dynamism into the economy through a productivity- and investment-led transformation that could help ensure future growth, employment, and prosperity for all Saudis.
- An oil price boom from 2003 to 2013 fueled rising prosperity in Saudi Arabia, which became the world’s 19th-largest economy. GDP doubled, household income rose by 75 percent, and 1.7 million jobs were created for Saudis, including for a growing number of Saudi women. The government invested heavily in education, health, and infrastructure and built up reserves amounting to almost 100 percent of GDP in 2014.
- The Kingdom can no longer grow based on oil revenue and public spending, in the face of a changing global energy market and a demographic transition that will lead to a bulge in the number of working-age Saudis by 2030. Current labor participation is 41 percent, and productivity growth of 0.8 percent from 2003 to 2013 lagged behind that of many emerging economies. Foreign workers on temporary contracts who are paid considerably less than Saudi nationals today constitute more than half the labor force.
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Saudi Arabia Beyond Oil The Investment And Productivity Transformation
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