Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Saudi Arabia jumped 44 percent to SR22.2 billion during the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same quarter last year. However, this figure recorded a seven percent decrease from Q4 of 2024, according to the Foreign Direct Investment Statistics bulletin for Q1 2025 published on Sunday by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The report showed that FDI outflows from the Kingdom totaled approximately SR1.8 billion in Q1 2025, reflecting a 54 percent decline from the same quarter in 2024, while increasing by 7 percent from Q4 of 2024. FDI inflows into the Kingdom reached about SR24 billion, a 24 percent increase from SR19.4 billion in Q1 2024, though they declined by 6 percent from Q4 2024.

According to GASTAT, FDI reflects a long-term relationship and a permanent interest of economic entities residing in an economy other than the Saudi economy. This means that an individual foreign investor or a group of foreign investors owns 10 percent or more of the voting power of shareholder rights.