Saudi Arabia’s GDP is likely to grow three per cent in real terms driven by a vigorous non-oil sector which will compensate for the decline in oil output in 2013, a report said.

Growth in the non-oil sector will remain above the 7 percent threshold in 2013, Arab News quoted a report by the National Commercial bank (NCB), the largest bank by asset in the Arab world.

Saudi Arabia’s non-oil GDP in 2012 grew 7.2 percent, largely driven by the performance of the non-oil private sector, the report said.

Construction and manufacturing, which registered 10.3 per cent, 8.3 per cent annual growths in 2012, will be the key beneficiaries in 2013, marking marginally higher growth, the report said.

According to NCB, the value of construction contracts in 2012 remained above the SR200 billion ($53.2 billion) threshold, registering SR235 billion.

Contracts in the manufacturing sector totaled SR17.8 billion in 2012, the fourth largest share across all sectors, surpassed only by the oil, transportation and power sectors, the report said.

Additionally, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, estimated to have topped $20 billion in 2012, are expected to edge higher in 2013 to around $ 25 billion, the report said.