Overview of the Saudi Economy

Paper Info
Page count 2
Word count 636
Read time 4 min
Subject Business
Type Essay
Language 🇺🇸 US

Saudi is an oil producing country. Production and export of oil is the major economic activity of the country. The economy heavily relies on fiscal policies to stimulate the economy. The government focuses on spending on education and health care. There is also use of monetary policies. This focuses on ensuring that the interest rates at low levels. The nominal GDP of the country has been growing over the years. However, during the recession, the country recorded decline in GDP. The table below summarizes the nominal GDP of Saudi.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Nominal GDP (SR billion) 1,552 1,676 2,075 1,641 1,976 2,511 2,727

The graph below shows the trend of the nominal GDP from 2006 to 2012.

Nominal GDP

Despite the erratic trend in GDP, government revenue took the same trend over the same period. However, government expenditure has been increasing over the years as shown in the table below.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Government revenue 679 643 1,101 510 742 1,118 1,239
Government expenditure 398 466 520 596 654 827 853

The trend of the values is shown in the graph below.

Budgetary indicators

The external market contributed immensely to the increasing inflation in Saudi. Some of the sectors that recorded an increase in inflation are medical care, transport and telecommunication, home furniture, education and entertainment, and fabrics, clothing and footwear. The overall inflation of the country increased sharply until 2008. Thereafter, it declined. The table below shows the rate of inflation of the years.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Inflation (change) 2.3% 4.1% 9.9% 5.1% 5.4% 5.0% 4.5%

The graph below shows trend of the values of the year

Inflation

Further, the population of the economy has been increasing over the years. However, the unemployment rate has been erratic over the years. Generally, the unemployment rate has been relatively lower with values less than 13% during the period. The table below summarizes the statistics from 2006 to 2012.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Population million 24.1 24.9 25.8 26.7 27.6 28.4 29.3
Unemployment (%) 12.0 11.0 9.8 10.5 10.2 11.0 12.0

The graph below shows the trend of the values.

Social and demografic indicators

The export /import factor

As mentioned above, oil makes up about 85 to 90% of the exports thus, a decline in production of oil and prices affects the GDP. The economy needs to diversify so as to increase the sources of revenue. This helps in mitigating the risks arising using one source. Further, petrochemical and plastic products make about 6% of the export. The import comprises of household goods, infrastructure, vehicles, and electronics. There should be establishment of local industries so as to minimize expenditure on imports for basic commodities (Mankiw, 2011; Parkin, 2007). The table below summaries the statistics of external trade indicators.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Total export revenue ($ billion) 210.9 233.1 313.4 192.2 251.0 364.6 396.0
Import 63.0 81.5 100.6 86.4 96.7 119.1 128.0
Trade balance 147.8 151.6 212.7 105.8 154.3 245.5 268.0

In 2013, the revenue from production and sale of oil is likely to drop. This can be attributed to low production and low prices. The estimates for 2013 are shown below.

2013
Total export revenue ($ billion) 332.9
Import 143.3
Trade balance 189.6

The table below shows the trend of the values.

External trade indicators

Risks that can impact on revenue of the economy

The main risk facing the economy of Saudi is the factors arising from the external environment. An example is the recession experienced from 2009 to 2010. This slowed down the export of oil. The second risk factor the economy faces is the geopolitical tensions. This similarly affects the export business. Thirdly, a decline in international prices of oil leads to decline in the revenue received by the country. It leads to lower GDP (Bade & Parkin, 2009).

References

Bade, R. & Parkin, M. (2009). Essential Foundations of Economics. United States: Pearson Education

Mankiw, G. (2011). Principles of Economics. USA: Cengage Learning.

Parkin, M. (2007). Economics. United States: Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Cite this paper

Reference

EduRaven. (2022, May 15). Overview of the Saudi Economy. Retrieved from https://eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/

Reference

EduRaven. (2022, May 15). Overview of the Saudi Economy. https://eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/

Work Cited

"Overview of the Saudi Economy." EduRaven, 15 May 2022, eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/.

References

EduRaven. (2022) 'Overview of the Saudi Economy'. 15 May.

References

EduRaven. 2022. "Overview of the Saudi Economy." May 15, 2022. https://eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/.

1. EduRaven. "Overview of the Saudi Economy." May 15, 2022. https://eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/.


Bibliography


EduRaven. "Overview of the Saudi Economy." May 15, 2022. https://eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/.

References

EduRaven. 2022. "Overview of the Saudi Economy." May 15, 2022. https://eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/.

1. EduRaven. "Overview of the Saudi Economy." May 15, 2022. https://eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/.


Bibliography


EduRaven. "Overview of the Saudi Economy." May 15, 2022. https://eduraven.com/overview-of-the-saudi-economy/.