Global Analysis of Saudi Arabia

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GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW

1. Overview of Country:

Saudi Arabia is a monarchy in southwestern Asia, and occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia is bordered on the north by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait; on the east by the Persian Gulf and Qatar; on the southeast by the United Arab Emirates and Oman on the south by the Republic of Yemen; and on the west by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. The southeast and southern boundaries are not precisely defined. http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/saudi-arabia.htm

- Economic Statistics

From World Fact book:

Saudi Arabia has an oil-based economy with strong government controls over major economic activities. It possesses 25% of the world's proven petroleum reserves, ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 75% of budget revenues, 45% of GDP, and 90% of export earnings. About 40% of GDP comes from the private sector. Roughly 5.5 million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, particularly in the oil and service sectors. The government is encouraging private sector growth to lessen the kingdom's dependence on oil and to increase employment opportunities for the swelling Saudi population. The government is promoting private sector and foreign participation in the power generation, telecom, natural gas, and petrochemical industries. As part of its effort to attract foreign investment and diversify the economy, Saudi Arabia acceded to the WTO in December 2005 after many years of negotiations. With high oil revenues enabling the government to post large budget surpluses, Riyadh has substantially boosted spending on job training and education, infrastructure development, and government salaries. The government has announced plans to establish six "economic cities" in different regions of the country to promote development and diversification. (Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html#Econ)

See specific economic status figures (e.g., GPA, etc.) at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html#Econ

Also see http://www.economist.com/countries/SaudiArabia/profile.cfm?folder=Profile%2DEconomic%20Structure

From http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/Default.aspx?economyid=163:

Saudi Arabia
Region: Middle East & North Africa
Income category: High income
Population: 24,573,100
GNI per capita (US$): 11,770.00
Country laws: see our Law Library

Ease of... 2006 rank 2005 rank Change in rank
Doing Business 38 35 -3
Starting a Business 156 164 +8
Dealing with Licenses 44 50 +6
Employing Workers 21 20 -1
Registering Property 4 3 -1
Getting Credit 65 59 -6
Protecting Investors 99 96 -3
Paying Taxes 6 6 0
Trading Across Borders 33 32 -1
Enforcing Contracts 97 92 -5
Closing a Business 87 77 -10

Note: 2005 rankings have been recalculated to reflect changes to the 2006 methodology and the addition of 20 new countries.

From Economist.com:
- The Saudi leadership's commitment to political reform is limited, and constrained by the overriding need to retain a consensus among the royal family and influential clerics. As a result, a coherent and comprehensive strategy to address legitimacy issues is lacking. High oil prices will allow the government to further increase public spending as part of its efforts to dampen potential unrest.
- The security forces' partial success in pursuing militants will reduce the risk of further major attacks on Western and government targets, although attempted attacks are likely to occur. Concerns over security risks in Saudi Arabia, together with the shortcomings of the legal environment and bureaucracy, will continue to constrain the levels of foreign investment over the forecast period.
- Following oil output increases in 2002-05, average oil production fell in 2006 and is likely to decline further in 2007 as Saudi Arabia and some of its fellow OPEC members seek to shore up oil prices in the face of expected output increases by non-OPEC states. This will constrain GDP growth, which the Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts will be 4% in 2007. However, the kingdom will continue to expand its spare capacity, and production is likely to rise from 2008 as non-OPEC output growth slows. This will help to support GDP growth of 5% in 2008.
- We expect the price of the benchmark dated Brent Blend to remain high by historical standards at US$65/barrel in 2007 and US$60.3/b in 2008, reflecting continuing strong demand, slow supply growth and a narrow margin of spare capacity. As supply constraints ease and capacity rises, prices will decline more rapidly from 2009, but will not drop below an annual average of US$50/b.
- Strong oil prices and historically high output levels will enable the government to raise public spending, particularly on capital projects, while also recording fiscal surpluses. These will decline, however, from 20.3% of GDP in 2006 to 6.1% of GDP in 2011 (when substantial new oil-refining capacity is due to come on stream).
- The government will use part of the fiscal surpluses to continue to reduce its domestic debt stock, which is expected to fall from an estimated 24% of GDP at end-2007 to 9.2% of GDP at end-2011.
- Despite high oil export earnings over the forecast period, strong import growth will push down the trade surplus. Coupled with rising invisibles payments, this will lead to a narrowing of the current-account surplus from 20.1% of GDP in 2007 to 5.7% in 2011.

Key indicators 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Real GDP growth (%) 4.2 4.0 5.0 4.6 4.5 4.3
Consumer price inflation (av; %) 2.3 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.6 1.3
Budget balance (% of GDP) 20.3 15.4 12.5 8.3 7.2 6.1
Current-account balance (% of GDP) 29.7 20.1 15.4 10.5 8.3 5.7
3-month deposit rate (av; %) 5.0 5.2 5.0 5.4 5.3 5.4
Exchange rate SR:US$ (av) 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75

- Population

From the World Fact book:

Population: 27,601,038
note: includes 5,576,076 non-nationals (July 2007 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 38.2% (male 5,369,285/female 5,162,585)
15-64 years: 59.4% (male 9,316,694/female 7,089,370)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 348,827/female 314,277) (2007 est.)
Median age:
total: 21.4 years
male: 22.9 years
female: 19.6 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.06% (2007 est.)

(Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html#People).

- Religion

The predominant religion for Egypt is Islam, the practice of the Muslim faith. (See Article)
(Source: http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/saudi-arabia.htm).

From the World Fact book:

- Muslim 100%
(Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html#People).

E.g. An Imam explains Islam

By IMAM SHAMSHAD A. NASIR
Islam is the name of the religion that was founded 1,400 years ago by the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. Islam is an Arabic word which means peace, love and complete submission and obedience to God. There is no difference between Islam and Muslims. Islam is the religion that a Muslim follows, just as Christianity is the religion which a Christian follows.
A Muslim is someone who has accepted ...