Saudi poised for big per capita income growth

Riyadh, May 29, 2012

The Saudi per capita income in the gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to soar to SR116,900 ($31,172), said a report citing experts. However, they warned that inflation will remain a major threat to Saudi income this year.

Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had predicted that Saudi per capita income would rise by 27.6 per cent in 2011 to SR 81,200 compared to SR 63,600 in 2010, the Arab News reported.

Based on the Kingdom's annual population growth of 2.21 per cent, Saudi population will balloon to 19.8 million and Saudi per capita income will hit SR 116,900 on the current prices and SR 48,800 based on fixed prices, economic expert Fahad Jumaa said.

However, Jumaa cautioned that inflation had direct effect on per capita income as shown in the difference between the nominal and real values of per capita income.

Economic analyst Muhammed Al-Salim pointed out that Saudi income was enormously affected by inflation in the last few years, which coincided with the loss of a large segment of citizens of their savings in money market setbacks, the report added.

Tags: inflation | Saudi | International Monetary Fund | income | GDP growth |