Saudi Arabia’s manufacturing activity surged by 8.7 percent in July compared to the same period the previous year, as indicated by the latest report from the General Authority for Statistics.
The report highlighted a 21 percent increase in electricity and supplies for July year-on-year. However, the Industrial Production Index witnessed a 9.5 percent decline in July 2023 compared to July 2022 when it had posted a 17.7 percent gain.
“Although the activity of the manufacturing industry and the activity of electricity and gas supply continued to rise, the decline in the mining and quarrying activity during July 2023 led to the decrease in the general index, given its high weight in the index,” stated the report.
The IPI’s trajectory has been declining since May, when it registered a 1.2 percent decrease, marking the first drop of the year. In contrast, it began the year on a positive note with a 6.8 percent rise in January.
Compared to the annual IPI growth recorded in 2022, which saw an impressive 26.7 percent increase in April, this year’s overall performance has been less impressive. The IPI is largely influenced by the trends in the mining and quarrying, manufacturing, and electricity and gas supply sectors, with respective weights of 74.5 percent, 22.6 percent, and 2.9 percent.—AN
