Executive Summary
Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure sector witnessed significant developments in 2024, driven by Vision 2030 initiatives and major giga-projects. This whitepaper analyses key developments and identifies emerging and current trends that will shape the sector into 2025 and beyond.
Key highlights and figures from the past year include the infrastructure sector valued at $36 billion in 2024 and this is projected to reach $44.81 billion by 2029. The construction market is estimated at $70.33 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $91.36 billion by 2029. These figures are supported by projected GDP growth from 1.5% IN 2024 to 4.6% in 2025 with the private sector contribution to GDP at 45%. Real GDP growth was able to rebound following periods of contraction in 2020 and 2023 due to oil prices and this growth is now underpinned by stable non-oil economic activity, counteracting fluctuations in the oil sector. Currently, there is a pipeline of $1.8 trillion worth of infrastructure projects planned or underway with municipal infrastructure allocation standing at $17.3 billion in 2024 and projected to increase to $21.3 billion in 2025. Saudi Arabia has embarked on this unprecedented expansion of its infrastructure capacity in response to mounting population pressures and economic diversification goals.
Other key figures are the transport infrastructure construction market valued at $98 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $154 billion by 2029. The Kingdom is now also the world’s largest producer of desalinated water at 11.5 million cubic metres daily. Moreover, since 2016, over SAR 4.9 trillion has been invested in real estate and infrastructure development and Vision 2030 implementation shows strong progress with 87% of 1.064 initiatives either completed or on track. These ambitious programs, aligned with Vision 2030, encompass transformative initiatives such as the $500 billion NEOM megacity, the Red Sea Project, and comprehensive nationwide rail network expansion. The scale of these investments positions Saudi Arabia as one of the world’s most dynamic infrastructure markets, attracting substantial international interest and creating numerous opportunities for global engineering firms, construction companies, and technology providers. While the sector is smaller in scale than global giants like the U.S. and China, KSA stands out for its ambitious vision and focus on long-term sustainability.
To access the full paper (PDF) please use the link below:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:eu:ad68b3c4-b517-4e8f-af03-b218445c93c0
