{"id":110385,"date":"2026-06-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/?p=110385"},"modified":"2026-06-18T04:06:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T04:06:48","slug":"saudi-arabia-oman-will-be-the-gccs-only-growing-economies-in-2026-icaew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2026\/06\/18\/saudi-arabia-oman-will-be-the-gccs-only-growing-economies-in-2026-icaew\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia, Oman will be the GCC's only growing economies in 2026 -ICAEW"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabia and Oman will be the only two GCC economies to keep growing in <\/strong>2026<\/strong>, as the fallout from the US-Iran war drags the bloc into a 2.4% GDP contraction, the <\/a>ICAEW<\/a> said in its Economic Update. That's a sharp downgrade from the 0.2% contraction it forecast three months ago, and a reversal of the 3.6% expansion the wider Middle East was tracking before the war. The region is now seen shrinking 4.1%.<\/p>\n

REMEMBER- The war shock has hit Saudi almost entirely through oil<\/strong>. The Kingdom\u2019s economy saw the slowest expansion since 2Q 2024, up by 3% y-o-y in 1Q<\/a> 2026, with oil activities being the primary drag on performance. However, analysts have noted that this downturn was mitigated more effectively than anticipated, thanks to strategic rerouting initiatives and the East-West pipeline.<\/p>\n

Food inflation is staying contained:<\/strong> CPI inched up just 1.8% in <\/a>May<\/a>, and ICAEW expects food inflation to stay subdued, citing the Kingdom's larger domestic production base and supply-chain resilience. That comes in contrast to the food-driven price pressure building in Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE- GCC oil output faces its steepest decline in decades<\/strong>, down 14.5% this year on the shipping disruption, before a 23.5% rebound in 2027 off a depressed base. ICAEW sees Brent averaging USD 90 \/ bbl this year, easing over the medium term as the UAE's exit from Opec+ and a planned West-East pipeline set to double export capacity through Fujairah. Inbound tourist arrivals across the GCC are forecast to fall 30% as security concerns reshape booking and destination decisions.<\/p>\n

What's next:<\/strong> ICAEW pegs the recovery to the Strait reopening to normal transit, which it expects to come slowly. It sees GCC headline inflation at 2.6% y-o-y in 2026, easing to 2.1% in 2027 as supply-side pressures fade. The Fed is expected to hold rates until December, with regional central banks following the lead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GCC GDP growth rate is expected to shrink by 2.4% in 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2571],"tags":[27,10,335],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-110385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-economy","tag-enterpriseam-ksa","tag-gdp","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"47bbfa41-9557-45e0-a481-239b45be14c1","order":"5","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2026\/6\/853.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"The oil-shaped dent","related_issue":[110377],"teaser":"GCC GDP growth rate is expected to shrink by 2.4% in 2026"},"yoast_head":"\nSaudi Arabia, Oman will be the GCC's only growing economies in 2026 -ICAEW - 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