Skip to main content

Saudi Arabia’s growth and infrastructure investment

Of all the fast-growing economies of the Arabian Gulf region, Saudi Arabia is by far the largest in terms of population and gross national product. Due to rising oil prices and increased foreign investments, Saudi Arabia's national economy has grown exponentially over the last ten years - having doubled in size since 2002 to $481.6bn. With a surface area of 2,150,000km2 (roughly equivalent to one quarter of the surface area of the continental United States), Saudi Arabia has a much greater need for high
August 28, 2013 Read time: 2 mins

Of all the fast-growing economies of the Arabian Gulf region, Saudi Arabia is by far the largest in terms of population and gross national product. Due to rising oil prices and increased foreign investments, Saudi Arabia's national economy has grown exponentially over the last ten years - having doubled in size since 2002 to $481.6bn.

With a surface area of 2,150,000km2  (roughly equivalent to one quarter of the surface area of the continental United States), Saudi Arabia has a much greater need for highway infrastructure to connect its many cities and ports.  Accordingly, the Kingdom has a much larger highway project pipeline in terms of total length of the network.

On the urban side, the cities of Riyadh, Damman, Jeddah, and Medina are growing rapidly. As rising populations and incomes drive demand for vehicles, freeway and road construction projects are increasingly larger and more complex – including road safety equipment and intelligent transport systems deployments.

According to industry estimates, investment in Saudi Arabia's entire transport sector is set to reach $100bn by 2020, with over $30bn allocated for new transport projects in the government's next five-year plan.

Related Content

  • US$306.66mn for Madinah, Saudi Arabia road projects
    February 5, 2013
    The 30km long third phase of the Madinah-Tabuk highway, the old Madinah-Qassim Road and the third 25km ring of King Khaled Road are among major highways projects to be carried out in Saudi Arabia's Madinah province. A total of US$306.66 million (SAR 1.15bn) has been approved by the Saudi government for the province's transport and road projects during the financial year 2013. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia's Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry said that SAR 11bn would be invested in new road projects in
  • Huge potential of Kenya’s bitumen market
    May 17, 2017
    Kenya’s bitumen demand to grow - Shem Oirere writes. Kenya’s demand for bitumen products is set to increase with recent budget allocations for construction of new roads, ports and airports and for maintenance of existing transport infrastructure. The country’s economic growth rose from 5.3% in 2014 to 5.5% in 2015 and is projected to hit 6% and 6.4% in 2016 and 2017 respectively according to the African Development Bank, triggering demand for better and modern infrastructure particularly in the transport se
  • Saudi Arabia limestone production boost
    October 23, 2017
    Saudi Dolomite runs a processing plant in Abqaiq, which is located in the desert, 80km south-west of the capital of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, Damman. Covering an area of 250,000m², the plant processes 5,000tonnes of material/day and runs its around-the-clock operation seven days/week.
  • Russia seeks outside investment in road building
    November 6, 2012
    The Russian road building industry is on the verge of big changes as it bids to improve quality and speed of construction says Eugene Gerden The Russian road building industry is on the verge of big changes as the national government considers creating conditions to attract foreign companies to build roads in the country. According to a recent order of President Vladimir Putin, due to poor quality and high cost of road construction, there is a need for the development of a mechanism to attract foreign compa