In August, the non-oil private sector in Saudi Arabia grew faster than it had in October of last year as business activity improved.
The Saudi Arabian S&P purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the entire economy rose to 57.7 in August from 56.3 in July, breaking above the series average of 56.8 since 2009. A reading above 50.0 indicates that activity is expanding.
David Owen of S&P Global Market Intelligence wrote, “Saudi Arabia’s PMI pointed to increased resilience in the non-oil economy during August as business activity and sales continued to grow strongly despite reports of increased global economic concern.”
Since the pandemic, the number of new orders has increased at the fastest rate since October last year, driven by improved customer demand, higher exports, and overall economic recovery. The rise in new orders was fueled by a strong increase in export orders, although the pace was a little slower than July’s eight-month high.
According to the series average of 61.4, the manufacturing sub-index rose to 61.5 in August from 59.9 in July. For the second consecutive month, input cost growth slowed, roughly in line with the series average. This is the fifth consecutive month that the employment sub-index has increased, albeit marginally and at a slower pace than in July.
