The Kingdom has USD 440 bn in already committed projects, with another USD 1.55 tn in the pipeline, according to an Emirates NBD report (pdf). The figure is equal to almost 1.55 times the Kingdom’s annual GDP, in line with regional economies but making it the largest project spender in the GCC in absolute terms, with project spending expected to continue driving GDP growth, according to the report which relied on Meed data.

The breakdown: Of Saudi Arabia’s committed spending of USD 440 bn, the construction sector led with USD 116 bn, primarily for residential projects, followed by the power sector with USD 99 bn for new oil and gas plants. Government-funded initiatives dominated, making up 86% of the total value, with the majority directed toward non-gigaprojects. The private sector made its largest contribution to construction, funding over 30% of the sector’s projects.

A long way to go: Gigaprojects have so far awarded a total of USD 80.5 bn in contracts, a fraction of their combined USD 670 bn budgets. Neom came on top with USD 38.9 bn committed out of USD 500 bn, followed by Diriyah (USD 16.9 bn out of USD 63.2 bn), the Red Sea Project (USD 11.5 bn out of USD 27.6 bn), Qiddiya (USD 8 bn out of USD 32.2 bn), and Roshn (USD 5.3 bn out of USD 46.9 bn).

In the pipeline: The USD 1.55 tn project pipeline is led by construction (USD 916 bn), followed by power (USD 194 bn), and transport (USD 180 bn). Gigaprojects account for around 47% of this pipeline, with Neom comprising over 77% of the gigaprojects’ combined value.

BUT- There are signs of a slowdown: Contract awards came in at just USD 25.7 bn in 1H 2025, compared to USD 154 bn in 2024 as a whole. This comes amid a widescale recalibration of gigaprojects, including Neom, as the Kingdom begins to “take stock” of large-scale Vision 2030 spending amid low oil prices and global uncertainty, Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said in May.

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