RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index rose 8.6 percent year-on-year in November 2022, primarily driven by high production in mining and quarrying, and manufacturing activities, according to the latest report from the General Authority for Statistics. The report noted that mining and quarrying grew by 5.7 percent in November 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, as the Kingdom increased the oil production to more than 10 million barrels in the month. According to the report, manufacturing activities in the Kingdom increased by 19.7 percent year-on-year in November, while electricity and gas supplies decreased by 10.9 percent. “Relative weights of the mining and quarrying, manufacturing, and electricity and gas supply sectors in the IPI are 74.5 percent, 22.6 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. Thus, the trend of the industrial production index in the mining and quarrying sector dominates the trend in the general IPI,” said GASTAT in the report. Saudi Arabia’s IPI turned positive in May 2021 and has been growing continuously since then. This turnaround comes after negative trends witnessed during 2019 and 2020 due to the impacts of the pandemic. “Since mid-2021, the IPI growth showed a positive trend, accelerating at the end of 2021, continuing to grow by double-digit numbers in 2022,” said GASTAT in the report. According to GASTAT, IPI is an economic indicator that reflects the relative changes in the volume of industrial output. The report further pointed out that overall IPI in November 2022 decreased by 3 percent compared to October, as mining and quarrying activities decreased by 4.5 percent. Compared to October, IPI in the manufacturing sector increased by 3 percent, while electricity and gas supplies decreased by 18 percent. Even though Saudi Arabia’s IPI is still showing positive trends, its growth has slowed down for the seventh month in a row from a 26.7 year-on-year growth recorded in April 2022. It should be also noted that the Kingdom’s IPI growth in November is the slowest in 2022 as it went below the 11.1 percent year-on-year growth reported in January last year.