Saudi GDP up 2.8% at end of 2017

Saudi’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita rose 2.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2017 to reach $5,428.

GDP per capita was $5,279 during the same period of 2016.

According to data released by the country’s General Authority for Statistics, the GDP in the fourth quarter of 2017 was approximately $178.7 billion while the population was 32.92 million.

GDP increased by a total of 5.2 per cent during 2017, up from $169.8 billion with a population of 32.16 million in 2016.

The world’s largest oil exporter has struggled as a result of a drop in oil prices which mean it is no longer able to rely on them to prop up its economy. As a result, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched the Vision 2030 plan which he hopes will ensure the country ends its reliance on petrodollars and expands its economy and income.

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The plan includes opening up the country to tourism as part of the Neom development, the introduction of cinemas and allowing woman to drive and enter the workforce.

Last year Bin Salman arrested hundreds of officials and scores of princes as part of an “anti-corruption drive”. They were forced to sign over large swathes of their wealth to the state in order to end their ordeal of torture and gain their freedom.