Saudi Arabia’s Q3 GDP shrinks 4.5% year on year as oil cuts weigh

Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to preliminary government data on Tuesday, weighed down by a sharp fall in oil activity on the back of cuts to crude production.

Economic growth surged last year amid a huge windfall from high oil prices which averaged about $100 per barrel, resulting in the highest GDP growth among G20 nations and the country’s first budget surplus in almost a decade.