The Oily Economy of Saudi Arabia

It would be apt if Saudi Arabia is referred as the oily nation. This country possesses the largest oil deposits and is the largest exporter of petrol and crude oil to the rest of the world.

The economy of Saudi Arabia is indeed ruled by crude oil with the fact that fifty percent of the revenue of the country is generated by petroleum. In fact, the statistics would be even more interesting if you look into the total exports of this country and the revenue generated from them.

Petroleum related exports account for ninety percent of the total exports in Saudi Arabia. So it is an obvious truth that Saudi Arabia economy is an oil economy.

The Government Entity:

The government of Saudi Arabia is the main shareholder when petroleum exports are concerned. However private entities do have their share but it is limited and they have lots of rules and strict regulations to abide by in order to have a hassles free trading.


Another defining moment in the Saudi Arabia economy was when the government really tried to put in a conscious effort to diversify their sources of economy by implementing many five-year plans. This however was not as successful as many expected but still it did help the country to negate some degree of unemployment.

Other Industries:

There are other industries which contribute to the 592.886 billion dollars of GDP of economy of Saudi Arabia. They are the computer or the IT industry, electrical and electronic industry and the e-commerce industry. The computer industry has taken an uprising in Saudi Arabia in the sense that it contributed about forty percent of the GDP per capita income.

The electrical industry is however on the verge of development but it still has complimented the country’s unemployment problem by providing employment for most of the youths in Saudi Arabia.