Construction drives Saudi Arabia’s FDI growth

Foreign direct investment into Saudi Arabia rose by a third year on year in 2025, with construction and manufacturing accounting for almost half.

Inflows reached SAR159 billion ($42 billion), up from SAR119 billion in 2024, according to data published by the General Authority for Statistics on Thursday.

The increase brings Saudi Arabia closer to its 2030 goal of $100 billion in annual inflows.

Saudi officials have said this year and last that they want the private sector to play a larger role in the national economy and have called for more foreign investment.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund, the $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund that oversees the country’s largest projects under the Vision 2030 development strategy, cut spending on so-called giga-projects last year.

The fund has said it wants to increase private sector investment in Vision 2030 projects.

Preliminary figures for 2026 show that FDI has fallen slightly from last year but remains within the range of normal fluctuations, economists say.

There are wider concerns that the ongoing conflict could dampen investment appetite, particularly in tourism, aviation and data centres.

Further reading:

• Saudi data centres face rising security risks
• Air defence bill may force Vision 2030 rethink, experts say
• ‘Fearless’ Saudi Arabia must keep a cool head