Saudi Arabia has been pursuing rapid industrialization and becoming compatible with the applications of Industry 4.0 as part of Vision 2030.  

As per the Saudi Industrial Production Index (IPI), there has been a 24% increase in the kingdom’s industrial activity primarily driven by high production in three subsectors — manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and electricity and gas supplies in May compared to the same period last year. 

According to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) report, this is the third-highest growth reported in the last three years. 

Owning the strong performance to a 23.3% uptick in the mining and quarrying sector, which includes oil production as well, the report outlined, “Growth of the IPI turned positive in May 2021 after a long period of negative growth rates in 2019 and 2020, partly impacted by the effects of the worldwide pandemic. Since mid-2021, the IPI growth showed a positive trend, accelerating at the end of 2021 to now”. 

As per the GASTAT report, manufacturing activity in the kingdom was up 28.8% in May compared to the same period in the previous year, while electricity and gas supplies increased by 3%. 

Compared to April 2022, the overall IPI increased by 1.2%. The report noted that mining and quarrying showed a month-on-month growth rate of 0.9%, while the manufacturing sector witnessed a growth of 0.2%.

The electricity and gas supplies surged 24.9% in May, compared to the previous month.

While some sectors struggle to achieve their industrialization goals in Vision 2030, socio-economic development will be made by unlocking the potential for alternative revenue streams in industries such as renewable energy, advanced light manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.