Riyadh December 11 2023: In October 2023, the Industrial Production Index (IPI) decreased by 12.3% compared to October 2022, states General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).
Although the activity of the manufacturing industry and the activity of electricity and gas supply continued to rise, the decline in the mining and quarrying activity led to a decrease in the general index
At a negative growth rate of 12.3% in October 2023, the industrial production index continued its downward movement of previous months. The index had peaked in early 2022, supported by growth rates of mining and quarrying activities, and manufacturing activities during that year. Since then, and in particular in 2023, growth rates have slowed down, mainly driven by mining and quarrying .
Relative weights of the mining and quarrying, manufacturing and electricity and gas supply sectors in the IPI are 74.5%, 22.6% and 2.9%, respectively. Thus, the trend of the industrial production index in the mining and quarrying sector dominates the trend in the general IPI .
In October 2023, mining and quarrying decreased by 18.4% compared to October 2022 as Saudi Arabia decreased its oil production to 8,9 million barrels per day in October 2023. Manufacturing activity increased by 0.6% compared to the same month of the previous year. Electricity and gas supplies increased by 32.2%. Compared to September 2023, overall IPI decreased by 0.9%, due to the decrease of production in the three sub-sectors. Mining and quarrying sector decreased by 0.4%, manufacturing sector decreased by 1.0%, and electricity and gas supplies sector decreased by 7.0%.
