Saudi Arabia Industrial Output Slumps 23.5% in August

Industrial production in Saudi Arabia plunged 23.5% year-on-year in August 2026, following an upwardly revised 8.3% drop in the previous month. The oil sector slumped 33.66% after an 11.4% drop in July, largely reflecting steeper declines in both the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas (-35.8% vs. -10.9%) and the output of coke and refined petroleum products (-24.1% vs. -13.6%). However, the decline was partly offset by faster growth in output in other economic activities (5.1% vs 3.4%), with electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply growing much faster than in July (9.4% vs 4.5%), while water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities rose more slowly (7.4% vs. 7.8%). The decline was also offset by a rebound in output in non-oil activities (1.2% vs -0.3%), though the manufacturing sector edged down 0.3%. On a monthly basis, industrial output fell 14.0% in August, reversing sharply from a downwardly revised 10.0% increase in July.

Industrial production in Saudi Arabia fell 8.1% year-on-year in July 2026, easing from a 16.3% slump in the previous month and marking the softest contraction since February. The decline in the oil sector slowed to 11.4% from 23.2% in June, largely reflecting a smaller drop in the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas (-10.9% vs -27%), while output of coke and refined petroleum products fell at a steeper pace (-13.6% vs -6%). Moreover, output in other economic activities was unchanged at 3.4%, with both electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply (4.5% vs 2.8%) and water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities (7.8% vs 6%) accelerating. Meanwhile, output in non-oil activities slipped 0.3% after rising 0.1% in the previous month, weighed down by a sharper decline in manufacturing (-1.3% vs -0.5%). On a monthly basis, industrial output surged 10.4% in July from 4.6% in the previous month and marking its strongest monthly gain since April 2020.

Industrial production in Saudi Arabia fell 16.3% year-on-year in June 2026, easing from an 18.7% slump in the previous month. Output in the oil sector fell at a softer pace (-23.2% vs -26.3% in May), largely reflecting a softer decline in crude petroleum and natural gas extraction (-27.0% vs -28.6%) and coke and refined petroleum products output (-6.0% vs -16.7%). Moreover, growth in other economic activities edged up to 3.4% from 3.3%, supported by a rebound in electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply (2.8% vs -1.4%) and faster expansion in water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities (6.0% vs 5.7%). However, non-oil activity growth eased slightly to 0.1% from 0.5%, despite a softer decline in manufacturing output (-0.5% vs -0.6%). On a monthly basis, industrial production increased 4.6%, accelerating from a 3.2% rise in May.