The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its forecast for Saudi Arabia's real GDP growth in its latest World Economic Outlook. The IMF now expects Saudi Arabia's GDP to grow by 3% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2026, slightly down by 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points from previous estimates. Despite the downgrade, Saudi Arabia's economy is projected to outperform the global average, which the IMF forecasts at 2.8% for 2025 and 3% for 2026.
The IMF highlights escalating trade tensions and high policy uncertainty as significant factors impacting global economic activity. Within the Gulf region, Saudi Arabia continues to lead in economic growth. Comparatively, Bahrain is expected to grow by 2.8%, Qatar by 2.4%, Oman by 2.3%, and Kuwait by 1.9% in 2025. The UAE is projected to achieve a growth rate of 4% in 2025, accelerating to 5% in 2026.
Inflation in Saudi Arabia is anticipated to remain stable, with rates of 2.1% in 2025 and a slight decrease to 2% in 2026. The expansion of the non-oil sector is a key driver of Saudi Arabia's economic growth. According to the Mastercard Economics Institute, Saudi Arabia's GDP is expected to grow by 3.7% in 2025, bolstered by non-oil economic activities.
In a broader perspective, the IMF projects the Middle East and North Africa region to grow by 2.6% in 2025 and 3.4% in 2026. For major global economies, the IMF forecasts the U.S. GDP to grow by 1.8% in 2025 and 1.7% in 2026, while India is expected to grow by 6.2% and 6.3% in the same years.
