Nirmal Narayanan

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index rose 6 percent year-on-year in February, driven by high production in mining and quarrying, and manufacturing activities, according to the latest report from the General Authority for Statistics.  

GASTAT, in its latest report, noted that mining activities grew by 2.2 percent last month, compared to February 2022, as the Kingdom increased its oil production to more than 10 million barrels per day in February 2023.  

IPI is an economic indicator that reflects the relative changes in the volume of industrial output in the Kingdom, and it is calculated based on the industrial production survey. 

According to the report, manufacturing activity in February increased by 16.8 percent, compared to the same month in the year-ago period, while electricity and gas supplies rose by 12.9 percent.  

The relative weights of the mining and quarrying, manufacturing and electricity and gas supply sectors in the IPI are 74.5 percent, 22.6 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.   

“During 2022, the industrial production index recorded positive growth rates that peaked in April 2022, the annual growth rates began to gradually decrease from month to another since May 2022, to record 6.0 percent increase in February 2023,” said GASTAT in the report.  

Compared to January 2023, overall IPI increased by 0.1 percent, while mining and quarrying, and manufacturing sectors stabilized at the level of the previous month. Electricity and gas supplies increased by 6.0 percent month-on-month in February.  

In February, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, in its monthly report, revealed that industrial investments in Saudi Arabia rose SR32.03 billion ($8.54 billion) in 2022 as the Kingdom continues to steadily diversify its economy in line with the goals outlined in Vision 2030.   

According to the report, the total volume of industrial investments in Saudi Arabia until December 2022 stood at SR1.428 trillion. 

The ministry revealed that last year, 1,023 factories started operations, with investments amounting to SR28.79 billion, while 964 industrial licenses were issued.