Net inflows of foreign direct investment into Saudi grew 32% y-o-y in 4Q 2023 to SAR 19 bn, according to Saudi Invest’s Economic and Investment Monitor (pdf). FDI inflows hit SAR 72 bn in 2023, growing 12.1% y-o-y, not including Aramco’s SAR 58.1 bn agreement with BlackRock Real Assets and Hassana Investment in February 2022, according to the report.

FDI volume is down so far this year: The number of investments in the Kingdom in 1Q 2024 fell 38.5% y-o-y to 64 agreements closed, the report says, citing Investment Ministry data. The quarter saw two fewer agreements closed compared to 4Q 2023, according to the report. Bloomberg took note of the downturn in volume.

The popular sectors: “Looking at economic activities, the distribution of [transactions] shows that innovation and entrepreneurship attracted the most attention from investors in 1Q 2024, with 34 [investments], followed by sports with 12,” the report says.

Who’s doing business in the Kingdom? The US accounted for the lion’s share of FDI inflows in 1Q 2024, with 11 closed transactions, followed by the UK with five investments. The UAE, Egypt, and Singapore each accounted for three transactions, with the remainder of the volume spread across six unspecified countries.

BACKGROUND- Saudi is aiming to reel in USD 100 bn of foreign direct investment per year as part of Vision 2030. So far, it’s missing the mark with an estimated USD 19 bn in 2023 and an average of USD 17 bn from 2017-2022, according to Bloomberg.

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