Saudi Arabia: Arab countries attracted $122.7 billion in investments during 2024, up 53 percent from the previous year, supported by major projects in Egypt and the Gulf, new data showed. 

According to a report by the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corp., known as Dhaman, the region saw the launch of 2,172 foreign projects with total capital expenditure of $119 billion. 

This aligns with the Arab region’s gross domestic product growth of 1.8 percent in 2024, reaching $3.6 trillion despite regional challenges, according to data released by Dhaman in March. 

It also supports Moody’s January forecast that oil production and major investment projects will drive a 0.8 percentage point rise in annual economic growth across the Middle East and North Africa in 2025. 

In its annual “Investment Climate in Arab Countries 2025” report, Dhaman said: “Despite the challenges the region experienced in 2024, FDI inflows into Arab countries rose by 53 percent to $122.7 billion, making up 14.2 percent of overall inflows into developing countries and 8.1 percent of overall world inflows worth around $1.5 trillion.” 

It added: “Foreign direct investment inflows into the Arab region continued their geographical concentration in 2024, as five countries had roughly 97 percent of the total inflows, led by Egypt, attracting $46.6 billion, making up 38 percent.” 

By the end of 2024, FDI stocks in Arab countries had increased by 8.8 percent to reach $1.2 trillion, with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, as well as Lebanon and Oman, accounting for 73 percent of the total, the report showed. 

The Kuwait-based organization said the average ranking of Arab countries in its composite index measuring investment climate stood at 103rd globally last year, remaining below the world average. 

As for inter-Arab investment projects, the report highlighted a 17 percent decline, totaling 260 projects, while capital expenditure dropped 35 percent to $45.5 billion, representing 38 percent of the region’s total foreign direct investment.