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Saudi Arabia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows reached $2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2023, indicating a 10.2% growth year on year, as reported by the economy ministry. The figure for the first three months of 2023 also indicated a 12.4% rise from the previous quarter.

The recent developments in FDI align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to increase FDI’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product from 3.8% in 2016 to 5.7% by 2030. The data also showed that Saudi Arabia’s GDP grew by 3.8% in the first quarter of the year compared to last year.

The workforce participation rate of Saudi nationals stood at 52.4%, while the unemployment rate was at 8.5%.

In the first quarter, the workforce participation rate of Saudi nationals was 52.4%, while the unemployment rate was 8.5%. Year-on-year, imports rose 37.8% in the first quarter, reaching $69 billion.

In March, Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih announced that multinational companies relocating their headquarters to Saudi Arabia could be eligible for tax exemptions, a measure taken to attract more investors to the region.