Saudi PMI down to 58.7 pts in March

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The seasonally adjusted Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), formerly the S&P Global Saudi Arabia PMI, fell from eight-year high to 58.7 points in March 2023.

Latest data indicated another rapid expansion in the non-oil private sector at the end of the first quarter of 2023, despite pulling back from February's near eight-year record. Output and new business continued to rise, supporting further growth in employment and purchases.

The reading signaled a marked improvement in operating conditions, and one that was among the strongest seen since early 2015, the bank noted in its report.

Non-oil companies particularly noted a sharp uplift in new business intakes in March, as improving market conditions and increased development spending helped boost demand.

Businesses also looked to expand their inventories of inputs, leading to another sharp increase in purchasing activity. Consequently, stock levels rose at the sharpest rate since August 2022. Firms were aided by a strong improvement in supplier performance, which was the greatest in almost a year, the report added.

Saudi Arabia PMI since 2019*
Month	Index (Points)	Change (Points)	Change (%)
January 2019	56.2	--	--
February	56.6	0.4	0.7%
March	56.8	0.2	0.4%
April	56.8	--	--
May	57.3	0.5	0.9%
June	57.4	0.1	0.2%
July	56.6	(0.8)	(1.4 %)
August	57.0	0.4	0.7%
September	57.3	0.3	0.5%
October	57.8	0.5	0.9%
November	58.3	0.5	0.9%
December	56.9	(1.4)	(2.4 %)
January 2020	54.9	(2.0)	(3.5 %)
February	52.5	(2.4)	(4.4 %)
March	42.4	(10.1)	(19.2 %)
April	44.4	2.0	4.7%
May	48.1	3.7	8.3%
June	47.7	(0.4)	(0.8 %)
July	50.0	2.3	4.8%
August	48.8	(1.2)	(2.4 %)
September	50.7	1.9	3.9%
October	51.0	0.3	0.6%
November	54.7	3.7	7.3%
December	57.0	2.3	4.2%
January 2021	57.1	0.1	0.2%
February	53.9	(3.2)	(5.6 %)
March	53.3	(0.6)	(1.1 %)
April	55.2	1.9	3.6%
May	56.4	1.2	2.2%
June	56.4	--	--
July	55.8	(0.6)	(1.1 %)
August	54.1	(1.7)	(3.0 %)
September	58.6	4.5	8.3%
October	57.7	(0.9)	(1.5 %)
November	56.9	(0.8)	(1.4 %)
December	53.9	(3.0)	(5.3 %)
January 2022	53.2	(0.7)	(1.3 %)
February	56.2	+3.0	+5.6%
March	56.8	+0.6	+1.1%
April	55.7	(1.1)	(1.9 %)
May	55.7	--	--
June	57.0	+1.3	+2.3%
July	56.3	(0.7)	(1.2 %)
August	57.7	+1.4	+2.5%
September	56.6	(1.1)	(1.9 %)
October	57.2	+0.6	+1.1%
November	58.5	+1.3	+2.3%
December	56.9	(1.6)	(2.7 %)
January 2023	58.2	+1.3	+2.3%
February	59.8	+1.6	+2.7%
March	58.7	(1.1)	(1.8%)

*Change on a monthly basis

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

Riyad Bank PMI Details
Subindex	Percentage
New orders	30 %
Output	25 %
Employment	20 %
Suppliers’ delivery times	15 %
Stocks of purchases	10 %
Total	100 %

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