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

  • HIDROMEK reaches milestone
    February 19, 2021
    HIDROMEK has reached a key sales milestone.
  • US city of Vancouver approves new I-5 bridge
    July 18, 2022
    Vancouver in the US state of Washington and Portland in the state of Oregon are aiming for a new road bridge with the possibility of accommodating light rail transport.
  • FETC innovation from Highway Toll to ITS Taiwan smart city
    March 6, 2017
    FETC innovation from Highway Toll to ITS Taiwan smart city – a Global Road Achievement Award winner says IRF. The Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Company (FETC) has a bold vision for the future. FETC has achieved the most successful BOT project for ITS traf_ c management; it turns the traditional highway toll collection system into an integrated intelligent electronic toll collection (ETC) system for mobility management.
  • Volvo CE looks strong on healthy orders
    January 31, 2018
    Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) reports a strong performance for the fourth quarter of 2017. This helped its parent company, the Volvo Group, achieve the highest sales and operating income in its history. Improved competitiveness coupled with growing demand, especially in Asia, boosted Volvo CE’s performance in sales, operating income, and order intake.