RIYADH: Real estate is the second largest contributing sector to the Saudi GDP and it is linked to the growth of more than 120 other economic sectors, housing minister said. The real estate sector provided 40,000 job opportunities in 2021, increasing the private sector’s participation to more than SR385 billion ($103 billion), Majid Al-Hogail, minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, told a conference in Riyadh. The construction and building activities during the first half of this year has achieved a significant increase by 14 percent from a year ago, he added. Studies also indicate that during the next five years the market will witness a growth in demand for subsidized housing financing contracts by about 500,000 contracts, with a total 1.2 million new financing contracts worth more than SR600 billion, he added. The percentage of local content in real estate projects jumped from 35 percent to 81 percent this year, exceeding the 75-percent target, he said.