The Saudi Ministry of Investment has revealed that it issued more than 2,100 investment licences in the third quarter of 2023, with a growth rate of 135.4% on an annual basis, a report said.
This does not include licences issued as part of the campaign to combat violators of the Anti-Commercial Concealment (tasattur) Law, Saudi Gazette said in the report.
The ministry said that the growth in the volume of issued licences reflects the kingdom’s position as an attractive investment destination that enjoys strong competitive advantages represented by a stable and supportive business environment.
The ministry has issued the monthly bulletin on the performance of the most prominent economic and investment indicators in the kingdom, showing positive growth rates in the third quarter of 2023.
The social and personal services activity achieved the highest growth rate at 11.8%, followed by the wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels with a rate of 5.4% while transportation, storage and communications activity recorded a growth of 5.1%.
According to the ministry's bulletin, the real estate price index recorded an increase of 0.7% during the third quarter of 2023, on an annual basis, impacted by a 1.1% increase in residential real estate prices.
The decline in both commercial real estate by 0.1% and agricultural real estate by 0.3% has contributed to reducing the rise in price index.
The bulletin revealed that the market value of shares issued in the main market in the third quarter of 2023 reached about SR11.4 trillion ($3 trillion), an increase of 5.3%, compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
The volume of foreign trade registered a decline of 14.1% at the end of the third quarter last year, on an annual basis, and the trade balance witnessed a decline of 53.8% during the same period, as a result of a decrease in total exports by 24.9%.
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