{"id":97690,"date":"2025-06-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/06\/04\/non-oil-activity-slightly-accelerates-in-may-backed-by-strong-new-order-growth\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T00:00:00","slug":"non-oil-activity-slightly-accelerates-in-may-backed-by-strong-new-order-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/06\/04\/non-oil-activity-slightly-accelerates-in-may-backed-by-strong-new-order-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Non-oil activity slightly accelerates in May, backed by strong new order growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>Non-oil busin<\/strong>ess activity in the Kingdom accelerated in May<\/strong>, driven by an expansion in new work that took place amid improvements in demand and improved business sentiment, according to the Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia PMI (pdf)<\/a>. The seasonally adjusted headline figure came in at 55.8 in May, up slightly from 55.6 in April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links<\/strong> to our background and outside sources.)<\/p>\n

New orders rose substantially during the month:<\/strong> The new orders subindex rose to 62.5 in May, up from 58.6 in April, breaking a three-month spell of decline for the subindex, according to Reuters<\/a>. The new orders index was the only subcomponent to raise the PMI in May, with businesses linking this to \u201cincreased demand, strong sales performances, industrial development and new marketing initiatives,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n

Output levels were not quite as positive, however:<\/strong> The pace of output growth eased to its softest level since September 2024, according to the report. Of the surveyed sectors, construction recorded the greatest hikes in both activity and new business.<\/p>\n

Employment levels continued to increase in the Kingdom<\/strong>, with the month seeing one of the fastest rises in staffing in over a decade. \u201cHiring momentum remained strong as companies expanded teams to support output growth, particularly in operations and sales,\u201d Riyad Bank Chief Economist Naif Al Ghaith said.<\/p>\n

Purchasing activity also continued to rise<\/strong>, accelerating to a 14-month high despite \u201cgreater caution towards stockpiling,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

This came in tandem with a rise in input prices<\/strong>, albeit at a slower pace than the previous month, with the slowdown coming due to subdued wage pressures. However, output prices fell in May, as competitive market conditions led to a sharp decrease in service sector charges, \u201ccontrasting with rising prices in manufacturing, construction and wholesale & retail,\u201d National Bank of Kuwait's Issa Hijazeen told EnterpriseAM.<\/p>\n

The future\u2019s looking bright for Saudi businesses:<\/strong> \u201cLooking ahead, sentiment among non-oil firms has strengthened visibly. Business expectations looking forward reached their highest level since late 2023. Hiring momentum remained strong as companies expanded teams to support output growth, particularly in operations and sales,\u201d Al Ghaith said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new orders subindex inched up to 62.5 in May<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97691,"comment_status":"","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":[27,10,1365,2687,74],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-97690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-economy","tag-enterpriseam-ksa","tag-non-oil-economy","tag-oil","tag-riyad-bank","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"161b8179-d89f-4d12-9141-35f7e3d3e30d","order":"3","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/9\/2067.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s non-oil activity slightly accelerates in May, backed by strong new order growth","related_issue":[97685],"teaser":"The new orders subindex inched up to 62.5 in May","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/6\/.5642b819-4824-441a-a2d6-2b66c5b9b122.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nNon-oil activity slightly accelerates in May, backed by strong new order growth - 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