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

  • Bridges and roads part of Myanmar’s New Yangon development
    April 6, 2018
    At least two bridges and dozens of kilometres of roads are part of phase one of an ambitious Myanmar plan to build a new city. Other infrastructure projects are an industrial zone, a power plant and water and sewage treatment plants, according to the newly created overseeing body, New Yangon Development Corporation - NYDC. The new city will cover around 30,000 acres on the west side of the Yangon River, including land in Kyimyindaing, Seikgyikanaungto and Twante townships. Much of the work to create the
  • UAE plans to impose road tax on trucks and buses
    February 14, 2014
    United Arab Emirates’ National Transport Authority is planning to impose road tax on trucks and buses crossing the borders of the UAE. The authority is considering charging US$26.65 per bus and about $1.33 per seat. For lorries, it is planning to charge $136.34 per trip for those carrying chemicals, food stuff, livestock and refrigerated goods, and an additional charge of $2.74 per tonne carried. Other trucks will be charged $26.60 per trip. The proposed tax has attracted strong protests from the governm
  • Mexico’s new Jala-Puerto Vallarta Highway
    August 29, 2017
    Mexico’s highway infrastructure plays a key role in the country’s economy, carrying around 55% of its freight and 98% of its passenger traffic. To meet this demand, the network has 377,660km of roads in all. This is split between the 49,652km federal highway network, the 83,982km of state roads, 169.429km of rural roads and 74,596km of access roads. mHowever, although the federal road network manages to connect a large part of the country's strategic points, some stretches already present problems with satu
  • Bolivia’s new highway
    October 10, 2017
    Bolivia’s new highway will provide better access into mountain areas – Mauro Nogarin writes At the beginning of 2015, work began on the construction and paving for the Tupiza - Atocha - Uyuni highway project. The route is located in Bolivia’s Potosí department: it is 189m in length and forms part of the Southwest Basic Road Network (RVF) of Bolivia. The completion of this important route is requiring funding worth US$150 million, of which 72% is being delivered through loans from the European Investment