Saudi Arabia sharply revised up its 2024 foreign direct investment, with new data showing it attracted a near-record sum from overseas investors. The kingdom said FDI reached 119bn riyals ($31.7bn) last year, almost 37% more than it previously reported.That matched the 2022 level and was just shy of the record $32.5bn in 2021, according to official data. Saudi Arabia has yet to explain where the revision came from, but the new tally shows it surpassed its annual target for last year.It also suggests the kingdom is gaining ground in attracting foreign partners to support Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to diversify the economy. The need for inflows is growing as the government sustains high levels of spending while crude prices fall and oil export revenues weaken.Its goal is to draw in about $100bn annually, more than triple what it has ever done, by the end of the decade. “The fact that the inflow was again above target is positive,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC. “However, given the lower oil price, FDI inflows need to be significantly higher to support the transformation programme.” Last year’s inflows were driven by investments in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and construction.Financial services and insurance also saw strong activity. The United Arab Emirates remained the leading source of foreign investments for a fourth year, while inflows from Germany and the US more than tripled from a year earlier. Hong Kong accounted for $2bn, a more than ten-fold increase from 2023.Flows from France and Spain slumped. Saudi Arabia sees foreign investment as key to training its young population, developing new industries and easing the government’s spending burden under the Vision 2030 economic transformation programme. FDI inflows amounted to $6.4bn in the first quarter of this year, according to preliminary data.
