RIYADH: Saudi Arabia reported strong growth in net foreign direct investment in the fourth quarter of 2025, rising 90 percent year on year to SR48.4 billion ($12.9 billion), according to official data.
In its most recent Foreign Direct Investment statistics bulletin, the General Authority for Statistics, or GASTAT, said net inflows rose from SR25.5 billion in the same quarter of 2024.
The authority added that inflows also increased by 82 percent compared with the third quarter of the same year, which recorded SR26.6 billion.
The rise reflects Saudi Arabia’s broader efforts to attract long-term foreign capital under its Vision 2030 strategy, which aims to diversify the economy beyond oil revenues. Under the program, the Kingdom is targeting $100 billion in annual foreign direct investment by 2030.
The statistics authority’s data showed that inward FDI flows increased to SR50.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, marking a 29 percent annual rise compared with SR39.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“It also recorded an increase of 69 percent compared to the previous quarter of 2025, which recorded SR29.9 billion,” the authority said in its release.
GASTAT added: “The value of FDI outflows amounted to SR2.2 billion during Q4 of 2025. It recorded a decrease of 84 percent compared to Q4 of 2024, when outflows reached SR13.8 billion. It also recorded a decrease of 33 percent compared to the previous quarter of 2025, which recorded SR3.3 billion.”
Foreign direct investment reflects a long-term relationship and sustained interest by entities resident in an economy other than Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The organization added that this means that a foreign investor, individually or as part of a group, owns 10 percent or more of the voting power of shareholders’ equity.
The Kingdom has introduced regulatory reforms that open sectors such as tourism, renewable energy, and technology to foreign investors, alongside initiatives led by the Ministry of Investment aimed at attracting international capital.
