Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime reinvention that could make or break the most powerful kingdom in the Gulf.
- Saudi Arabia is in the process of reinventing itself.
- The Gulf kingdom is racing to transform to stay relevant well into the 21st century.
- Take a closer look at the country led by a prince on a mission.
After a near-century of relying on its oil riches, the country has been scrambling to set a grand plan in motion that aims to do nothing short of transform its entire economy and pave the way to the future for a nation of youths hungry for opportunity.
The plan, known as Vision 2030, is being led by the desperately ambitious 38-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the de facto leader trying to cement both his legacy and the kingdom’s place on the global stage — all by the close of the decade.
But radical reform has not been without controversy.
The kingdom’s been under increasing scrutiny since the Crown Prince rose to power in 2017. Saudi Arabia sparked international outrage in 2018 after Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and continues to face accusations of human rights violations.
Despite this, little has been able to stop Saudi Arabia from exerting more and more influence on the global stage.
It’s opened its purse strings to direct billions of dollars towards everything from sports to media and entertainment as part of an international spending spree aimed at helping it diversify beyond oil.
All this makes Saudi Arabia a country more relevant than ever. Here’s a closer look at everything from its GDP to employment in the Gulf Kingdom.
An economy in boom mode
Like many countries, Saudi Arabia’s economy suffered when the pandemic struck in 2020, but the only way has been up since then.
It GDP soared past $1 trillion last year for the first time, while per- capita output stood at $30,436, up about 50% in just two years, according to World Bank data.
The growth phase, which secured the kingdom’s spot as the G20’s fastest-growing economy last year, was fueled by higher global energy prices as well as a 4.8% non-oil GDP growth thanks to a boom in areas such as construction and transport, per the IMF.