Saudi Arabia issues 2,056 new foreign investment licenses in Q4 2021

19/01/2022 Argaam Special
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's flag

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's flag


Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment issued 2,056 new investment licenses to foreign companies in the fourth quarter of 2021, a rise of 358% from 449 licenses a year earlier.

  

The number of foreign investment licenses in Saudi Arabia increased by 38% year-on-year (YoY) to 478 in Q1 2021, by 264% YoY to 575 in Q2 2021 and 333% YoY to 1,330 in Q3 2021.

 

Accordingly, the total number of new foreign investment licenses reached 4,439 in 2021, up 251% compared with a year earlier, due to economic recovery from COVID-19 pandemic.  

 

The following table illustrates the number of foreign investment licenses issued since early 2016:

 

Foreign Investment Licenses in Saudi Arabia

Period

No.

YoY Variation

Q1 2016

72

--

Q2 2016

54

--

Q3 2016

44

--

Q4 2016

86

--

Q1 2017

66

(8%)

Q2 2017

85

+57%

Q3 2017

84

+91%

Q4 2017

142

+65%

Q1 2018

157

+138%

Q2 2018

146

+72%

Q3 2018

197

+135%

Q4 2018

238

+68%

Q1 2019

292

+86%

Q2 2019

294

+101%

Q3 2019

254

+29%

Q4 2019

291

+22%

Q1 2020

352

+21%

Q2 2020

158

(46%)

Q3 2020

307

+21%

Q4 2020

449

+54%

Q1 2021

478

+38%

Q2 2021

575

+264%

Q3 2021

1330

+333%

Q4 2021

2056

+358%

 

The highest number of foreign investment licenses in the fourth quarter of the year was granted in the retail & e-commerce sector, accounting for more than 44% of the total number of licenses. It was followed by industrial & manufacturing with 16%.

 

New Foreign Investment Projects by Sector in Q4 2021

Sector

No.

Retail & E-Commerce

907

Industrial & Manufacturing

330

Building & Construction

297

Foods

155

Academic & Professional Activities

79

ICT

77

Transport & Logistics

39

Administrative & Support Services

39

Education

16

Health and Social Work

13

Water Supplies

13

Mining & Minerals

11

Finance & Insurance Services

10

Real Estate Activities

10

Arts, Entertainment & Recreation

5

Electricity & Power

6

Agriculture, Forests & Fishing

6

Other

43

Total

907

 

Yemen topped in terms of new foreign investment projects in the Kingdom with 663 projects. India came second with 198 projects, followed by Syria (162) and Egypt (157).

 

Investment Licenses for Top 10 Countries in Q4 2021

Sector

Number of Licenses

Yemen

663

India

198

Syria

162

Egypt

157

Pakistan

101

Jordan

75

Lebanon

41

US

31

UK

30

Total

1458

Comments {{getCommentCount()}}

Be the first to comment

loader Train
Sorry: the validity period has ended to comment on this news
Opinions expressed in the comments section do not reflect the views of Argaam. Abusive comments of any kind will be removed. Political or religious commentary will not be tolerated.