Saudi PMI rises to 58.4 points in October

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's flag

The seasonally adjusted Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), formerly S&P Global Saudi Arabia PMI, rose to 58.4 points in October 2023.

The index's rise indicated a significant improvement in the Saudi non-oil private sector, as commercial activity continued to grow at a noticeable rate at the beginning of the fourth quarter, owing to increasing customer demand and improving economic conditions.

Moreover, companies reported an accelerated expansion in new incoming business, hitting its highest level in four months.

Growth in production and new business remained broad-based across the manufacturing, construction, wholesale, retail, and service sectors, while the strong rise in new business contributed to a significant expansion in activity, leading to the largest improvement in the number of jobs in nine years.

Non-oil companies reported a faster expansion in purchasing activity during October to record the first growth rate recovery in four months.

The significant increase in the purchase of production inputs is mainly due to increased demand from customers, which also led to a sharp increase in purchase inventory.

Inventory growth was also supported by decreased average delivery times for production inputs, despite being at a less severe rate compared to September.

The PMI is a weighted average of the following five indices: