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Saudi Arabia's GDP expanded 2.7% in the first quarter

Saudi Arabia's economy expanded in the first quarter thanks to activity in non-oil sectors as the country continues its diversification away from hydrocarbons.

Flash estimates released by the government's statistics authority on Thursday showed that the kingdom's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as measured in dollars, increased 2.7% from the previous year.

The government agency updated and expanded their data collection, and stated that its nominal and real GDP series had been revised accordingly.

When we met with people, they always wanted more information, more statistics and more data. The local demand for more data is what drives this, said Fahad Al Dossari.

The authority stated that as part of its revision it has increased the weighting for the non-oil sectors to better align themselves with international standards and data.

The growth in non-oil activities was 4.2%, and the government's activities were up 3.2%.

The statement revealed that oil activities had decreased by 1.4%. Reporting by Hadeel al Sayegh in Dubai, Manya Saini and Pesha Magid in Riyadh. Editing by Alex Richardson and William Maclean

(source: Reuters)