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ANALYSIS
Saudi Arabia
Magic Kingdom – The Outlook for Saudi Arabian Construction SAUDI ARABIA
David Clifton of Hill International takes an in-depth, exclusive look at the Kingdom’s construction industry for 2022 as it looks to deliver on the GCC giant’s ambitious plans
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January 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com
losing the door on another slightly challenging year for the industry, 2022 offers further growth opportunities as the economy continues to recover from the pandemic. 2021 produced a significant bounce back for all of the GCC economies, although in terms of recovery to the levels last seen in 2019, we are still some way off. The outlook for Saudi Arabia in general looks to be positive and this is driven in no small part by the construction industry, which is a significant contributor to the economy (see Figure 1). And with an ‘under construction’ and ‘in the pipeline’ total of almost $1.2 trillion
– of which c.$735 billion are in precontract, there are reasons to have a positive outlook for the short- and long-term future of the industry. MACRO OVERVIEW
As with every country globally to impact in 2020 was incredibly significant to economic output. At this time, it is challenging to see how the Kingdom will return the 2018/19 level of GDP output given the growth forecasts. The current expectations could be outstripped by a sustained high oil price. Although cognisance needs to be taken that outside of OPEC+ the USA shale oil productions comes on stream and profitable at between $50-55 per barrel. This should mean that with a
Positive outlook The positive outlook for Saudi Arabia has been driven, in no small part, by its construction industry, which has been a significant economic contributor.
7.5%
Expected rate of growth for KSA
