Saudi Arabia Posts 34.5% Jump in Net FDI Inflows in Q3 2025
Saudi Arabia drew a fresh wave of foreign capital in the third quarter of 2025, with net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows jumping 34.5% from a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics—an uptick the kingdom is likely to tout as momentum for its Vision 2030 push to diversify beyond oil.
Net FDI inflows totaled 24.9 billion Saudi riyals (about $6.64 billion), up from 18.5 billion riyals in the same quarter of 2024, the authority said. The headline number moved higher even though inbound FDI itself rose only modestly: gross inflows increased 4.4% year-on-year to 27.7 billion riyals.
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The bigger swing came from the other side of the ledger. Saudi Arabia’s outward investments fell sharply, dropping 65.7% to 2.7 billion riyals. With less money flowing out, the net figure climbed—a reminder that “net” can be as much about restraint as attraction.
The statistics authority also published services trade figures for the quarter. Services exports reached 58.2 billion riyals, while services imports came in at 120.8 billion riyals, pointing to a sizable gap. Travel was the top driver of services exports, while transport led services imports, the data showed.
Together, the numbers sketch a familiar picture: The kingdom is working to pull more international investment in while building export-earning sectors such as tourism—an agenda that depends not only on flagship projects, but on steady confidence from global firms and financiers.
