The stock of foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia reached about SR1,122.8 billion, or roughly $299 billion, at the end of the first quarter of 2026, up 12% from a year earlier, according to official data released by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and reported by the Saudi Gazette.
Foreign direct investment made up about 32% of total foreign investment in the Kingdom, which rose 18% year on year to SR3,530.8 billion. Portfolio investment, which includes equities, investment fund shares and debt securities, stood at SR1,467.3 billion, while other investments reached SR940.7 billion.
New capital also kept flowing in. Economic and investment indicators released by the Ministry of Investment showed gross foreign direct investment inflows of SR26.6 billion, about $7 billion, in the first quarter, up 2.4% year on year. The same indicators showed real GDP growing 3% in the quarter, with gross fixed capital formation up 5.1%, driven by a 54% rise in government investment.
More recent figures from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), reported by Argaam, put the stock of foreign direct investment at about SR1.14 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 11% year on year, still around a third of the Kingdom's total foreign investment of about SR3.54 trillion.
The quarterly gains follow a strong 2025. GASTAT's annual report showed foreign direct investment inflows rising 33.5% to SR159.1 billion last year, from SR119.2 billion in 2024. Construction attracted the largest share at SR34.5 billion, followed by manufacturing at SR33.4 billion.
Under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to attract $100 billion in foreign direct investment a year by 2030.
