SA

World Competitiveness
Center

IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022, Digital 2022, Talent 2022: summaries

COUNTRY SAUDI ARABIA

PROFILE
WORLD COMPETITIVENESS
RANKING 2022
All data are available from the
World Competitiveness Online.

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1
 Saudi Arabia
Competitiveness Trends – Overall

OVERALL PERFORMANCE (63 countries) BASIC FACTS Rank

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Capital Riyadh
2021
Land area (square km '000) 2,150
26 24 24
32 Exchange Rate (per $) 3.750
2021
39 2021
Population - market size (millions) 35.33 22
2021
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (US$ billions) 833.5 17
2021
CHALLENGES IN 2022 GDP (PPP) per capita (US$) 49,569 24
• Continue the economic diversification and reform efforts to 2021
Real GDP growth (%) 3.2 53
attract foreign investment. 2021
• Continue the efforts to promote renewable energy and Consumer price inflation (%) 3.06 33
reducing carbon emissions. 2021
Unemployment rate (%) 6.86 41
• Close the gap between the output of higher education and 2020
the requirements of the job market. Labor force (millions) 14.57 24
• Emphasize digital transformation in health, education and Current account balance (% of GDP) 6.62
2021
14
commerce sectors to support the economy. 2020
• Ongoing government endeavors to achieve the targets of Direct investment stocks inward ($bn) 241.9 27
Saudi 2030 vision throughout all economic, social, and 2020
46
Direct investment flows inward (% of GDP) 0.77
environmental aspects.

PROVIDED BY: NCC, National Competitiveness Center

COMPETITIVENESS LANDSCAPE
Economic Performance Government Efficiency Business Efficiency Infrastructure
Technological Infrastructure
International Investment

Health and Environment

Productivity & Efficiency
Institutional Framework

Scientific Infrastructure
Management Practices
Business Legislation

Attitudes and Values

Societal Framework

Basic Infrastructure
International Trade
Domestic Economy

Public Finance

Labor Market
Employment

Tax Policy

Education
Finance
Prices

6
11 11 10 14
19 21 20
25
31 30 27 29 30 30
37
44
52 49
55

PEER GROUPS RANKINGS

EUROPE - MIDDLE EAST - AFRICA (40 countries) POPULATIONS > 20 MILLION (27 countries)

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

9 8
16 15 17 10
20 13
15
26

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 Saudi Arabia
Competitiveness Evolution & Attractiveness Indicators

COMPETITIVENESS EVOLUTION
The criteria below highlight the 15 biggest Improvements and the 15 biggest Declines in the overall performance of the
economy. They are determined by the largest percentage changes in the value of each criterion from one yearbook to
the next.

WCY WCY WCY WCY

IMPROVEMENTS 2021 2022 DECLINES 2021 2022
1.2.02 Current account balance -1.63 6.62 2.2.08 Consumption tax rate 5.00 15.00

1.1.14 Real GDP growth -4.1 3.2 2.3.08 Exchange rate stability 0.016 0.031

1.1.18 Gross fixed capital formation - real growth -13.50 10.13 1.2.25 Tourism receipts 2.07 0.57

1.1.15 Real GDP growth per capita -6.66 2.32 4.1.07 Population - growth 2.73 0.90

1.4.04 Employment - long-term growth 3.40 7.88 3.2.14 Labor force - long-term growth 6.53 4.47

2.1.02 Government budget surplus/deficit (%) -11.11 -2.45 1.4.10 Youth exclusion 17.2 22.3

4.5.17 University education index 5.92 8.85 3.4.13 Entrepreneurial fear of failure 41.78 53.61

1.2.08 Exports of goods ($bn) 173.49 258.40 1.2.23 Trade to GDP ratio 62.24 51.19

2.4.12 New business density 0.5 0.7 4.5.05 Pupil-teacher ratio (secondary education) 11.30 12.99

3.4.14 Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity 13.96 19.62 4.4.01 Total health expenditure 6.4 5.7

1.4.09 Youth unemployment 27.20 16.25 3.2.01 Compensation levels 7.20 7.81

2.5.02 Homicide 1.27 0.83 3.3.10 Stock market capitalization (%) 346.68 320.21

2.4.07 Government subsidies 1.07 0.74 1.5.06 Gasoline prices 0.54 0.58

4.3.16 Patent applications per capita 21.72 27.94 4.2.15 High-tech exports (%) 0.65 0.61

1.5.02 Cost-of-living index 84.50 62.10 1.1.13 Economic complexity index 1.00 0.94

KEY ATTRACTIVENESS INDICATORS

From a list of 15 indicators, respondents of the Executive Opinion Survey were asked to select 5 that they perceived as
the key attractiveness factors of their economy. The chart shows the percentage of responses per indicator from the
highest number of responses to the lowest.

Access to financing 60.5%

Dynamism of the economy 50.0%
Policy stability & predictability 47.4%
Reliable infrastructure 46.1%
Open and positive attitudes 39.5%
Competency of government 34.2%
Effective legal environment 26.3%
Competitive tax regime 25.0%
Skilled workforce 23.7%
Cost competitiveness 23.7%
Business-friendly environment 22.4%
High educational level 22.4%
Quality of corporate governance 21.1%
Strong R&D culture 11.8%
Effective labor relations 10.5%

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WORLD COMPETITIVENESS
DIGITAL RANKING 2022

All data are available from the

World Competitiveness Online.

Visit our eShop

4
DIGITAL TRENDS - OVERALL

SAUDI ARABIA
OVERALL PERFORMANCE (63 countries)
Overall Factors
Alpha AlphaLabel Beta BetaLabel Gamma GammaLabelSub-Factors
1 2 2 2 2 2 2
4 4 4 2 2
6.5 4 4 2 2
8.5 4 37
4 2 2 28 24 58
10.5 4 4 2 2

Talent Training & education Scientific concentration

Knowledge

35 26 25 22 34

Regulatory framework Capital Technological framework

Technology

37 33 32 33
The direction of the triangle indicates the
performance change from the last year: Adaptive attitudes Business agility IT integration
 improved or stable Future readiness
declined

OVERALL & FACTORS - 5 years 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

OVERALL 42 39 34 36 35

Knowledge 40 39 46 50 37

Technology 50 40 24 24 26

Future readiness 38 38 28 32 37

COMPETITIVENESS & DIGITAL RANKINGS

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Digital
Competitiveness 26 24 32 24
39
34 36 35
39
N.B. This graph provides only a 42
comparison of the country’s performance
in the two rankings.

PEER GROUPS RANKINGS

EUROPE - MIDDLE EAST - AFRICA (40 countries) POPULATIONS > 20 MILLION (27 countries)

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

23 14 14 13 13
27 25 24 16
28

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 FACTORS BREAKDOWN - STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

u Overall Top
u Overall top strengths

Overall Top
w Overall
Strengths

top weaknesses
SAUDI ARABIA
w Weaknesses

KNOWLEDGE

Sub-Factors 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Talent 38 20 34 32 28
Training & education 39 38 34 34 24
Scientific concentration 49 59 62 64 58

Talent Rank Training & education Rank Scientific concentration Rank

w Educational assessment PISA - Math 56 Employee training 14 Total expenditure on R&D (%) 50
u International experience 08 u Total public expenditure on education 03 Total R&D personnel per capita -
Foreign highly-skilled personnel 10 Higher education achievement 28 Female researchers -
Management of cities 26 Pupil-teacher ratio (tertiary education) 43 R&D productivity by publication 13
u Digital/Technological skills 07 Graduates in Sciences 40 w Scientific and technical employment 54
Net flow of international students 36 Women with degrees 34 High-tech patent grants 46
w Robots in Education and R&D 53

TECHNOLOGY

Sub-Factors 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Regulatory framework 50 39 25 30 25
Capital 31 13 05 15 22
Technological framework 56 54 47 35 34

Regulatory framework Rank Capital Rank Technological framework Rank

Starting a business 22 IT & media stock market capitalization 50 Communications technology 13

Enforcing contracts 36 Funding for technological development 14 Mobile Broadband subscribers 31
Immigration laws 38 Banking and financial services 20 Wireless broadband 18
Development & application of tech. 10 Country credit rating 34 Internet users 10
Scientific research legislation 25 Venture capital 09 Internet bandwidth speed 46
Intellectual property rights 26 Investment in Telecommunications 19 w High-tech exports (%) 61

FUTURE READINESS

Sub-Factors 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Adaptive attitudes 43 50 37 46 33
Business agility 48 36 28 35 32
IT integration 33 30 24 24 33

Adaptive attitudes Rank Business agility Rank IT integration Rank

E-Participation 50 Opportunities and threats 20 E-Government 38

Internet retailing 48 World robots distribution 50 u Public-private partnerships 09
Tablet possession 31 Agility of companies 20 u Cyber security 02
Smartphone possession 20 Use of big data and analytics 23 Software piracy 38
Attitudes toward globalization 15 Knowledge transfer 23 Government cyber security capacity 21
Entrepreneurial fear of failure 46 w Privacy protection by law content 61

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WORLD TALENT
RANKING 2022
All data are available from the
World Competitiveness Online.

Visit our eShop

7
Talent Ranking 2022

SAUDI ARABIA
OVERALL PERFORMANCE (63 countries)
The direction of the triangle indicates
Alpha the
AlphaLabel Beta BetaLabel Gamma GammaLabel
performance change from the last year: 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
1 2 2 2 2 2 2
 improved or stable
4
declined 4 4 2 2 20
32 22

Investment &
Overall
Development
28
Investment & 29
30 20 Development
Appeal
31
30 30
32

Readiness 34 34
Appeal 35 35
37 37
38 38
41 39
41
42
43
Readiness

INVESTMENT & DEVELOPMENT Value 2022 Rank

u Total public expenditure on education Percentage of GDP 7.8 % 3
Total public exp. on education per student Spending per enrolled pupil/student, all levels 6,330 US$ 30
Pupil-teacher ratio (primary education) Ratio of students to teaching staff 13.82 ratio 27
Pupil-teacher ratio (secondary education) Ratio of students to teaching staff 12.99 ratio 41
u Apprenticeships are sufficiently implemented 6.16 Survey [0..10] 9
Employee training is a high priority in companies 6.61 Survey [0..10] 14
w Female labor force Percentage of total labor force 21.52 % 61
Health infrastructure meets the needs of society 7.34 Survey [0..10] 21

APPEAL Value 2022 Rank

u Cost-of-living index Index of a basket of goods & services in the main city, including housing (New York City = 100) 62.10 index 10
Attracting and retaining talents is a priority in companies 7.45 Survey [0..10] 21
Worker motivation in companies is high 6.47 Survey [0..10] 16
Brain drain (well-educated and skilled people) does not hinder competitiveness in your economy 5.53 Survey [0..10] 24
Quality of life is high 8.19 Survey [0..10] 16
Foreign highly-skilled personnel are attracted to your country's business environment 7.11 Survey [0..10] 10
Remuneration in services professions Gross annual income including supplements such as bonuses, US$ 28,388 US$ 26
Remuneration of management Total base salary plus bonuses and long-term incentives, US$ 144,621 US$ 38
u Collected personal income tax On profits, income and capital gains, as a percentage of GDP 0.00 % 1
Justice is fairly administered 7.59 Survey [0..10] 15
w Exposure to particle pollution Mean population exposure to PM2.5, Micrograms per cubic metre 64.06 micrograms 61

READINESS Value 2022 Rank

Labor force growth Percentage change 0.47 % 35
w Skilled labor is readily available 4.68 Survey [0..10] 41
Finance skills are readily available 6.26 Survey [0..10] 30
u International experience of senior managers is generally significant 7.05 Survey [0..10] 8
Competent senior managers are readily available 6.16 Survey [0..10] 22
Primary and secondary education meets the needs of a competitive economy 6.21 Survey [0..10] 33
Graduates in Sciences % of graduates in ICT, Engineering, Math & Natural Sciences 23.34 % 32
University education meets the needs of a competitive economy 7.12 Survey [0..10] 23
Management education meets the needs of the business community 6.88 Survey [0..10] 24
Language skills are meeting the needs of enterprises 7.44 Survey [0..10] 20
w Student mobility inbound Foreign tertiary-level students per 1000 inhabitants 1.97 number 42
w Educational assessment - PISA PISA survey of 15-year olds 386 Average 55

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