Saudi Arabia's Sectors of High Promise

In line with Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has a promising outlook for the near future. Based on our deep industry research, here are five sectors we think are going to be top performers in the coming years:

1. Mining

   
   

   In the past, the Kingdom had limited the private sector's access to the mining industry. Further, it was the Kingdom's focus to export oil, and mining was kept majorly untapped. With Vision 2030, KSA has opened access to mining to the private sector, providing far and wide concessions for international and local investors.

   
   

   According to the Vision 2030 Annual Report, the value of mineral wealth in the Kingdom in 2024 was $2.51 Trillion, up from $1.31 Trillion in 2016. That marks a whopping 91% increase in just 8 years. According to MineHutte and the Mining Journal, Saudi Arabia ranks #1 globally in growth of international mining investment.

   
   

   That being said, it is now a golden time for specialists in this industry. Miners of all different kinds of materials and minerals including gold, copper, aluminum and more, should take to the fields and reap the rewards.

   
   

2. Aquaculture and Precision Farming

   
   

   Global warming and desertification has increased rapidly, up to 30 to 35 times faster than historical rates. This has in turn affected a lot of countries' agricultural ouput both in land and sea. With Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is aiming to transform this challenge into an opportunity of advanced agricultural resilience and sustainability. It aims to do this through advanced technologies to expand local production of key agricultural products including grains and vegetables to fish and poultry, while promoting climate-smart farming methods.

   
   

   With Saudi Arabia having all kinds of climates on land and a variety of seas and oceans, it is a very suitable and sustainable environment to increase the production of farming and aquaculture. Further, KSA is highly encouraging investment by expanding funding for projects that apply high-tech, precision farming and smart irrigation systems, with almost $1.3B in loans disbursed by the Agricultural Development Fund from 2018 to 2024.

   
   

   For anyone, locally or internationally, who is interested in sustainable farming, the time to plant the seeds are now.

   
   

3. Industrial

   
   

   Today, there are a lot of struggling factories in the Kingdom, due to either small sizes, mismanagement or financial difficulties. Knowing this, the government is steady focused on restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, or even bringing in international experts to partner with them to expand their production. This is especially true for fields in which Saudi Arabia can be competitive in, which includes: sugar factories and juices, coffee, steel products, cable factories, and cement, among others.

   
   

   Due to the huge evolution of the country, the demand for materials is skyrocketing. In 2024, there are more than 12,000 factories operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, up 36% from 2018, just six years ago. Looking ahead, the Kingdom aims to increase the number of factories to 36,000 by 2035, as part of its National Industrial Strategy.

   
   

4. Tourism and Aviation

   
   

   Saudi Arabia is increasing investment massively in the tourism sector, from hotels to theatres to festivals and resorts, and thus, the demand from abroad is similarly rising. In 2023, KSA surpassed their 100 million tourists target seven years earlier than expected. It this now revised to 150 million tourists by 2030.

   
   

   Hence, the aviation industry is also taking a similar jump to widen the touristic reach. According to the latest study by IATA, aviation contributed approximately $90.6 billion to Saudi Arabia's GDP in 2023, accounting for 8.5% of the total economic output. This is, of course, projected to increase significantly as tourism reaches new heights in the Kingdom.

   
   

   This is highly encouraging for private sector airline companies to start new ventures or widen their existing fleet. More so, this is motivating for sub industries such as logistics, transportation, cargo and ground handling.

   
   

5. Renewable Energy

   
   

   Vision 2030 is pushing far for green energy solutions for local consumption and reducing carbon emissions from fossil-fuel based energy. Demand for solar energy, windmills, clean hydrogen transport and ice thermal energy storage are at an all-time high. These energy systems also enable Saudi's vision to reduce emissions from desalination plants and factories, by turning CO2 into productive greenery.

   
   

   Today, there is 2.8GW of total renewable energy capacity installed, enough to power over 520,000 homes. The ultimate target is to generate 50% of electricity from renewable resources by 2030.

   
   

   All of this considered, this opens a huge mass of opportunity in carbon credits and environmental related projects.