Saudi PMI down to 57.7 points in October; business conditions of non-oil economy continue to improve: IHS Markit

03/11/2021 Argaam Special

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The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in Saudi Arabia declined by nearly 0.9 points to 57.7 points in October, from 58.6 points in September, according to IHS Markit.

 

The reading indicates a sharp improvement in the non-oil private sector. Despite slipping from 58.6 in September, the reading was the second-highest recorded since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and above the long-run series average.

 

Business conditions in the Saudi non-oil economy continued to strengthen at a rapid pace in October. New orders rose sharply as domestic demand recovered from the pandemic, with the rate of growth remaining close to September's seven-year high. Notably, output levels expanded at the sharpest rate since December 2017.

 

According to latest PMI data, the 0.9-point fall in the headline PMI was largely driven by the new orders sub-index, which dropped from its seven-year high in September but was still indicative of a substantial rise in sales.

 

Non-oil companies reported a marked expansion in output during October. The rate of growth accelerated from the previous month to the strongest since the end of 2017. This helped firms to keep on top of new work and reduce their backlogs.

PMI in Saudi Arabia 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%)

*Month-on-month change.

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