The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the largest country in the Middle East and 12th largest in the world by land area. The economy is largely oil based, with oil providing 45% of GDP and 90% of export earnings; KSA holds 16% of the world’s proven petroleum reserves. Recent reductions in the oil price are therefore limiting economic growth and hence potentially constraining growth for mobile operators. Efforts to diversify the economy in areas such as downstream petrochemicals and mining are in progress[1] and may help to offset this to some extent. The population of KSA has grown annually at an average of 2.4% over the past five years to the current estimate of 30.9m people of whom 57% are under 30 years old. KSA has the joint lowest population density in the Middle East region with 14 people per km2 compared to the regional average of 136 people per km2.
Mott MacDonald,
January 26, 2016
