Saudi Non-Oil Industry Grows 1.2 Percent in August as Electricity Supply Rises 9.4 Percent
Saudi Arabia’s non-oil industrial activity grew 1.2 percent in August from a year earlier and 1.4 percent from July, taking its index to 133.3, the second-highest of 44 monthly readings since January 2023, preliminary figures from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed on 11 October. Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply rose 9.4 percent on the year to 164.7, and water supply and waste management 7.4 percent to 143.0, each the highest of its 44 monthly readings.
Non-oil output within a point of its best month since 2023
The non-oil index, measured against a 2021 base of 100, has now risen for 4 months in a row, from 124.5 in April to 133.3 in August, a gain of 7.05 percent on our calculation. Of the 44 monthly readings published since January 2023, only September 2025, at 134.2, stands higher, and August sits 0.88 points below it. It is the highest August in the series, 6.39 percent above August 2024 and 1.19 percent above August 2025, on our calculation.
On the revised series the annual rate has firmed for a third straight month, from minus 0.30 percent in May to 1.19 percent in August, on our calculation. Across the first 8 months of 2026 the non-oil index averaged 128.66, which is 1.28 percent above the same months of 2025, on our calculation.
The non-oil index’s yearly average climbed from 109.91 in 2022 to 117.16 in 2023, 123.34 in 2024 and 128.58 in 2025, compound growth of 6.49 percent a year from its 2021 base on our calculation, and August’s level is 3.67 percent above last year’s average.
Non-oil activities up 1.2 percent on the year, August 2026
| Activity | Weight | Index | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-oil activities | 25.02 | 133.3 | 1.2% |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning | 2.82 | 164.7 | 9.4% |
| Water supply, sewerage and waste management | 0.69 | 143.0 | 7.4% |
| Manufacturing excluding refining | 21.51 | 128.9 | -0.3% |
| Other economic activities | 4.94 | 150.3 | 5.1% |
| Basic metals | 1.01 | 122.1 | 3.9% |
| Beverages | 0.45 | 140.6 | 1.7% |
Preliminary. Weights are percent of the general index; levels on a 2021 base of 100. Manufacturing excluding refining is the non-oil manufacturing line and contains the last three rows. Monthly changes: non-oil 1.4 percent, electricity 7.0 percent, water 0.2 percent, manufacturing excluding refining 0.6 percent, other economic activities 0.9 percent, basic metals 1.7 percent.
Power and water top the monthly series since 2023
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply reached 164.7 in August, 14.16 points above August 2025 and 7.0 percent above July. It has now risen for 6 months in a row, from 90.85 in February, and stands 39.59 percent above its 2025 average, on our calculation. Last year the index reached 154.0 in September and eased to 90.2 in December. Averaged over January to August, the electricity index is 4.26 percent higher than a year earlier, on our calculation.
Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation also set a series high, at 143.0, up 7.4 percent on the year and 0.2 percent on the month. Its January to August average is 5.28 percent above the same months of 2025, on our calculation.
The 2 utility sections carry only 3.51 percent of the index between them, yet they supplied more than all of non-oil’s annual gain. On our calculation, electricity added 0.40 points to the general index over the year and water 0.07 points, against a net non-oil contribution of 0.39 points. On the month the gain was broader: of the 0.46 points non-oil added, electricity supplied 0.30 and manufacturing excluding refining 0.15.
Inside that manufacturing line, the largest contribution came from other economic activities, which carries a weight of 4.94 and rose 5.1 percent on the year to 150.3, within half a point of its April 2024 series high. On its own it added 0.36 points to the general index over the year, on our calculation. Furniture rose 0.7 percent on the year, and paper output gained 2.0 percent on the month. Manufacturing excluding refining as a whole edged up 0.6 percent from July and averaged 0.81 percent more over January to August than a year earlier, on our calculation.
Non-oil index, 4 straight monthly gains
| Month | Index | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | 126.6 | 1.6% | -0.3% |
| June 2026 | 131.1 | 3.6% | 0.3% |
| July 2026 | 131.5 | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| August 2026 | 133.3 | 1.4% | 1.2% |
Revised series as published with the August figures, 2021 base of 100. Monthly and annual changes for May to July are our calculation from the published levels; August’s are as published.
Non-oil now makes up 38 percent of the index level
The general index stood at 87.1 in August, 23.5 percent lower than a year earlier and 14.0 percent lower than July. The authority attributes both declines to mining and quarrying and to manufacturing. Mining and quarrying, which in this index is crude petroleum and natural gas extraction, fell 35.8 percent on the year and 24.0 percent on the month. Coke and refined petroleum products fell 24.1 percent and 11.1 percent, and chemicals 3.3 percent and 0.1 percent, leaving total manufacturing 8.8 percent lower on the year. Oil activities as a group fell 33.6 percent on the year and 21.5 percent on the month. Food, non-metallic products, electrical devices and paper were also lower on the year, by 1.0 to 2.4 percent.
Over January to August, the general index averaged 9.89 percent less than a year earlier and the oil index 14.61 percent less, on our calculation. The authority gave no explanation for the oil sector beyond naming the components.
One result of the oil decline is that non-oil activity now makes up a larger part of the index level. With a fixed weight of 25.02 percent, non-oil accounted for 38.29 percent of the general index level in August, up from 32.47 percent in July and 28.94 percent a year earlier, on our calculation. That shift comes mainly from the lower oil reading rather than from non-oil growth, and it would narrow if oil output recovered. It is a share of the index level, not of output or value added.
Revisions lift July’s non-oil reading
The authority updated the latest 3 months with this release, and the revisions to July favour non-oil. July’s non-oil index now reads 131.48, up 1.40 points from the 130.08 in the July release. That turns July’s first-print monthly dip of 0.22 percent into a 0.30 percent rise, and its annual change from minus 0.28 percent to plus 0.79 percent, on our calculation. June’s non-oil reading was raised to 131.08 from 130.37. Electricity for July was revised up to 153.99. The general index for July moved the other way, to 101.34, so July’s annual change now stands at minus 8.27 percent on our calculation.
July readings revised, non-oil higher
| Measure | First published | Revised | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-oil activities | 130.08 | 131.48 | 1.40 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning | 152.29 | 153.99 | 1.70 |
| Oil activities | 91.96 | 91.29 | -0.67 |
| General index | 101.50 | 101.34 | -0.16 |
Index points, 2021 base of 100. First published figures are from the July release, revised figures from the August release; the change column is our calculation.
Why it matters: The non-oil index tracks the volume of Saudi industrial production outside crude extraction and refining, and August left it within a point of its highest monthly reading since January 2023, with annual growth firming for a third month and power and water supply at the top of their monthly series.
Outlook: The September index is the next test. A monthly rise of 0.67 percent or more in the non-oil index, on our calculation, would carry it past September 2025’s 134.2 to the highest reading in the monthly series that starts in January 2023. Electricity enters September already 10.66 points above its September 2025 reading, on our calculation. August’s figures are preliminary, and the July revisions show that updates can lift the non-oil line.
Sources: General Authority for Statistics, The Edge.
