Economy

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Saudi Arabia Economy - 2003 - overview:

The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 75% of budget revenues, 45% of GDP, and 90% of  export earnings.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $242 billion (2002 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 0.6% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $10,500 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 5.2%
industry: 51.2%

services: 43.6% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 7 million
Unemployment rate: 25% (2002)
Budget: revenues: $46 billion  Expenditures: $56.5 billion
Industries: crude oil production, petroleum refining, basic petrochemicals, cement, construction, fertilizer, plastics
Industrial production growth rate: 1% (1997 est.)
www.theodora.com/wfb2003/saudi_arabia/saudi_arabia_economy.html

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Jobless Rate
In the past few years, though, oil revenues have plunged and per capita income is less than half what it was in the '80s, meaning more and more Saudis need to find jobs. Yet almost a third of the country's 22-million residents are foreign workers at a time when the jobless rate among Saudis is 30 percent. "It doesn't make sense to have high unemployment for Saudis when half the work force is not Saudi," says Fahad Almubarak, a financial consultant.   www.sptimes.com/2002/webspecials02/saudiarabia/day4/story1.shtml

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See my note: unemployed

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