RIYADH: The total number of investment licenses issued in Saudi Arabia rose 83.4 percent year on year in the third quarter of the current year to 6,986 licenses, excluding those issued under the campaign to correct the status of violators of the Anti-Concealment Law. 

According to the Financial Analysis Unit at Al-Eqtisadiah, investment licenses have increased twentyfold over the past five years, compared with 351 licenses in the third quarter of 2020.  

Since the announcement of Vision 2030 in 2016, foreign direct investment inflows have more than quadrupled. They grew by 24.2 percent last year to SR119.2 billion ($31.7 billion), marking the highest value and fastest growth rate in three years. This figure exceeds the annual target of SR109 billion by around 39 percent.     

By sector, most licenses issued during the third quarter of 2025 were concentrated in construction activity, accounting for around 37 percent of total licenses, with 2,583 licenses.   

This was followed by wholesale and retail trade with 1,214 licenses, representing 17 percent of the total. Manufacturing ranked third with 11 percent, bringing the combined share of the three sectors to 66 percent of total licenses.  

Wholesale and retail trade recorded the highest growth rate in investment licenses, with year-on-year growth of 234 percent, followed by the construction sector, human health and social work activities, education, and accommodation and food services, each posting growth of more than 100 percent.