Saudi GDP shrank less in Q3 as non-oil growth picked up

Saudi Arabia’s preliminary estimate put real GDP 3.8% lower in the third quarter than a year earlier, but the decline was less severe than the 4.7% contraction in the previous quarter. Oil activity remained the main drag, falling 20.4% year on year, while government activity slipped 2.7%. But businesses outside oil and government grew 1.9%, up from 0.8% in the second quarter, helping cushion the overall fall. The figures also show why annual and quarterly readings can tell different stories: after seasonal adjustment, GDP rose 1.3% from the second quarter, suggesting activity recovered during the quarter even though output remained well below its level a year earlier.