RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil activities experienced a growth of 4.6 percent in 2023, reflecting the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to diversify its economy away from crude, official data showed. Despite this positive trend, the country’s real gross domestic product saw a decline of 0.9 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, as per the latest report released by the General Authority for Statistics. According to GASTAT, Saudi Arabia’s oil activities declined by 9.2 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. This dip in GDP was primarily attributed to a reduction in oil activities during the year, in line with Saudi Arabia’s decision to decrease crude output following the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+. In a bid to maintain market stability, OPEC+ had decided to cut oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day in April 2023. Within these prescribed reductions, Saudi Arabia committed to lowering its output by 500,000 bpd, a commitment that has been extended until December 2024. In June, the Kingdom further implemented an additional output cut of 1 million bpd, which continued until December 2023. However, Saudi Arabia’s GDP recorded a growth of 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to the previous three months. This rise was due to the increase of non-oil activities by 2.6 percent. Compared to the third quarter, government activities surged by 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter, while the oil sector witnessed a decline of 2.7 percent. On the other hand, the Kingdom’s real GDP shrunk by 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. This decline was driven by a 16.4 percent decline in oil activities, the report added. However, non-oil and government activities grew by 4.3 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to the year-ago period. Earlier in January, a report released by GASTAT showed that Saudi Arabia’s inflation fell to 1.5 percent in December 2023, compared to 1.7 percent in the previous month. In another report released in January, the stastics authority noted that the Kingdom’s Wholesale Price Index increased in December 2023 by 0.4 percent compared to November as a result of the rise in the prices of other transportable goods, which went up by 0.8 percent.