RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s electricity and gas supply activities rose 32.2 percent in October, official data showed.  

According to the General Authority for Statistics, manufacturing activity also increased 0.6 percent in October compared to the year-ago period. 

However, the report added that the Kingdom’s Industrial Production Index for October declined by 12.3 percent compared to the same month in 2022, weighed down by the fall in mining and quarrying activities.  

Saudi Arabia’s mining and quarrying activities posted an annual decline of 18.4 percent in October as the Kingdom decreased its oil production to 8.9 million barrels per day.  

Saudi Arabia’s decision to reduce the oil output was aligned with an agreement reached by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to reduce supply and ensure market stability.

“Relative weights of the mining and quarrying, manufacturing and electricity and gas supply sectors in the IPI are 74.5 percent, 22.6 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. Thus, the industrial production index in the mining and quarrying sector dominates the trend in the general IPI,” said GASTAT in the report. 

In April, Saudi Arabia cut oil output by 500,000 bpd, extending the measure until December 2024. Additionally, the country committed to an extra oil output reduction of 1 million bpd in July, and this supplementary cut was confirmed to continue until the end of December 2023, according to the Energy Ministry.

The IPI, an economic indicator, reflects the relative changes in the volume of industrial output, and it is calculated based on the industrial production survey, according to GASTAT. 

Additionally, the IPI for October decreased by 0.9 percent compared to September, driven by a decrease in activities in critical subsectors. 

According to GASTAT, activities in the mining and quarrying sector decreased by 0.4 percent in October compared to the previous month, while operations in the manufacturing sector dipped by 1 percent. 

The authority added that electricity and gas supplies in the Kingdom also dropped by 7 percent in October compared to September. 

A recent GASTAT report also revealed a 3.5 percent increase in Saudi Arabia’s nonoil activities during the third quarter compared to the same period in 2022.