A government report revealed on Thursday that the number of establishments operating in the contracting sector grew by six percent, a new indicator that the Saudi economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saudi Arabia has the largest construction market in the GCC, with more than 33 percent of the total market share, estimated at USD850 billion.
According to data on the fourth quarter of 2020 issued on Thursday, the rate of establishments operating in contracting represents about 2.6 percent of the total companies in the country, while the sector’s workers constitute 34 percent of the total private sector workforce.
The report attributed this high growth rate to the flexible economic policies adopted by the Saudi government to deal with external shocks, in addition to the attractive investment climate.
The report issued by the Saudi Contractors Authority showed an increase in the number of establishments operating in the contracting sector by the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, to reach 175,400 establishments, a six percent growth.
According to the annual statistical report for 2020, the building construction activity has the largest number of establishments and workers, as it includes 99,800 companies and 1.7 million employees.
The Riyadh region gets the main share of establishments with about 46,000, representing a rate of 26.4 percent.
The report highlighted a slight growth in the number of citizens working in the contracting sector, as foreign workers continue to dominate the field. The number of Saudi workers reached 486,800, representing 17.2 percent of the total workforce.
