Saudi Arabia has awarded SR49.1 billion ($13.1 billion) worth of construction contracts during the first quarter with the lion's share going to the healthcare and petrochemical sectors, said a report.

These projects indicate the Kingdom's appetite for heavy capital expenditures, reported the Arab News.

However, this year there has been a slight drop in the value of contracts awarded which fell to SR49.1 billion from last year's SR52.2 billion, said the report citing data from the National Commercial Bank’s Construction Contracts Index for the first quarter.

According to the report, Riyadh and Makkah regions won the maximum amount of contracts by region netting 44 per cent and 27 per cent of them.

As indicated in the 2013 budget proposal, the Saudi government awarded SR11.7 billion worth of contracts for physical infrastructure projects.

The report said sectors within the social infrastructure category, such as healthcare, residential real estate and education, contributed about SR28 billion of the overall value of awarded contracts.

Anchor sectors, such as oil & gas, petrochemical and industrial had relatively modest contract values as they accounted for nearly SR7.5 billion, said the report.

January dominated the first quarter with regard to the awarding of contracts which surged to SR21 billion. The healthcare and petrochemical sectors topped the list with nearly 58 per cent and 10 per cent.

There was also a single mega-project contract within the healthcare sector worth SR12.6 billion, said the report.